


Assurances

by Blue_Lotus



Series: The Years Beyond Us [1]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Alternate History, Elsa POV, F/F, Gen, Government, Ice Powers, Long, My First Work in This Fandom, No Incest, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV Original Character, POV Third Person, Psychic Abilities, Psychological Torture, Secret Organizations, Secret Relationship, Tangled (Periphery), Torture, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 33,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Lotus/pseuds/Blue_Lotus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two foreigners travel to Arendelle to determine whether or not Elsa is a danger; meanwhile, Elsa deals with political machinations at home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know when Frozen is supposed to be set, so I chose for it to be in late 1784. Obviously, I do not own Disney, Frozen, or its characters. I do own my OC's, but if they are used elsewhere, then so be it.

**Prologue**

     Across the bay, a seagull’s cry broke through the silent air. The air was heavy and clouds covered over the sun. _HBMS Lord Clint_ broke through the waters, making its way closer to Dover with every passing moment. On board the ship, a cold, salty air gently caressed the bodies of those that were working, and sea spray splashed against their bodies. Inside of the captain’s quarters, on the other hand, was calm and warm. A globe sat in one corner, and a large map was hanging from a wall, dozens of marks scratching the surface. The captain himself, always making sure to stay with the times, had scratched the word “Colonies” off of the large area of land, and had replaced it in scrawling shorthand with “United States of America”. The captain mused at the map as he swirled a glass of liquor in his hand. “Times always change,” he muttered in a volume that made him think that his comment had gone unheard.

     The admiral who had been sitting behind him, however, had keen ears. “And with a change in times comes a change in venues. You have a sixty gun warship, I do hope that you aren’t planning on letting it lie about.”

     “The war is over,” Captain Peak pointed out, motioning at the map with his glass as he spoke. “The colonists won. I fail to see what you expect I should be doing.”

     “As I had said,” the admiral replied, grinning slightly. “New venues. There are always places looking for newer, better, hands in management.”

     “I hope that you don’t mean to India,” Captain Peak grumbled. “The place is a death sentence. The people hate us, the land hates us. I don’t care what sorts of spices can be found there. Or silks. Or the like.”

     “Do not worry, my dear captain,” the admiral chuckled. “I do not intend on sending you to such a distant place. Have you ever heard of Arendelle?”

     The captain frowned, then nodded slightly his head. “A small portion of Norway that somehow retained its independence despite all odds. Fertile, and the place had some small ports, but nothing of true importance,” Captain Peak said, and the admiral nodded in agreement.

     “Something has changed there,” the admiral said. “It is the view of the crown that Arendelle is worth looking into.”

     “As a colony?” the Captain asked. The rest of Europe would be unhappy about such an action, but if it was the will of the crown, then he would do so.

     “Perhaps,” the admiral muttered, taking a moment to run a hand through his thick, brown beard. “We wish to have assurance that their queen will show more restraint than she has had. Otherwise, leave nothing left.”

     “Restraint?” Captain Peak asked.

     “Yes. The frost that covered up the north sea a month ago is believed to have been her doing. If she cannot be controlled, then it would be most prudent to ensure that no such thing happens again.”

     “Her doing? How?” The frost had been only a slight thing, a thin layer of ice extending some hundred kilometers from Norway. Still, the event had baffled scientists from all over Europe, no one able to make anything of the freak weather.

     “Sorcery, perhaps. We aren’t entirely sure at the moment. We shall be bringing some more people onto your ship, to assist in your mission. Evaluate the risk that the queen presents, and react accordingly. We expect for you to be gone in two days, headed for Arendelle.”

     As _Lord Clint_ broke away from Dover some days later, Captain Peak stood at the helm of the ship, watching the water. He could see his reflection in the cool blue water. The wind was strong today, stronger than it had been many days before, and he could feel it ruffle through his ginger hair. The color had come from his parentage, a sign of what he had accomplished. Despite being Irish by birth, he had come to captain one of the greatest ships in the British navy. And now, it was headed towards one of the smallest countries in Europe, save perhaps the Vatican. Peak let out a slight grin, as he was known to do before a mission began. He was ready.


	2. Broken

**Chapter One: Broken**

     While Adrendelle was a monarchy, there hadn’t been a monarchy for several years. As the late King and Queen had created a council to assist them, however, the issue was solved more easily than it might have otherwise been. The council had ruled during the regency period before their new Queen could take the throne, and now, Elsa could tell that they were not impressed with her.

     Councilor Karl Leonardsen, the head of economics, had been glaring at Elsa since the moment she had arrived in the Council’s chamber and sat down amongst them for her first meeting. The room was small, circular, with bookshelves and maps taking up all of the walls. The only other feature of note was the large oak table in the center of the room, built to allow ten to sit around it. At the moment there were nine people in the room: two guards standing by the only entrance and exit; Elsa, who was looking over a series of documents at the moment and ignoring the glares; Councilor Steensen, the head of agriculture; Councilor Leonardsen, who was continuing to glare; Councilor Erickson, the head of foreign relations; Councilor Arnesen, the head of internal relations; Councilor Haakonsson, the head of justice; and Councilor Hummel, the head of military.

     Once Elsa had finished looking over the reports, she lifted her gaze from them to settle on her Council. “Leonardsen,” she began, trying her best to ignore the look he was giving her. “I suppose that you wish to begin this meeting?”

     “Yes,” he began, his voice trembling with anger. “I don’t suppose that you had any real, rational, reason for cutting off trade with Weselton?”

     “Besides the actions of their Duke, no. I don’t feel that I need another reason at the moment,” she answered honestly. Memories of recent events flashed through her mind, unbidden. With a moment of slow breathing, she calmed such feelings.

     “Well,” Leonardsen continued, “because of your cutting them off, we now have to trade with France, and I cannot guarantee that we can continue with trading if we continue getting the same turnouts from there. Simply put, you forced Arendelle out of agreeable trades, ones that we needed. The amount of people without jobs has grown from this.”

     “What exactly have prices risen on?” Elsa asked him. Having been isolated for three years, and then gone completely for several weeks, there hadn’t been much time to  look over the state of Arendelle’s imports. She privately wished that she had done so during her time on her own.

     “Foodstuffs, mainly fruits that can’t grow in this climate,” Leonardsen answered. “The freeze also destroyed a good portion of our crops.”

     “Steensen,” the queen turned to the short, plump woman that was on her left. “What can you tell me about the state of the farms?”

     “Your Grace,” Steensen began, with an air much calmer than the other councilor’s had been. “The worst of the damage was near the palace itself, and in the close-by farmlands. A circle around ten kilometers in diameter worth of crops, centered around the capital, were utterly destroyed. Others have merely been weakened by the blizzard. Hence, the need to import new crops.”

     “Not to mention that with the sea frozen over at such an unexpected time, several of our ships are now in mal-repair,” Councilor Hummel mentioned. “I need workers to fix those.”

     “And none of you bothered to check with one another?” Elsa asked rhetorically. “Start hiring people to begin repairs on the ships, as well as more people to help with replanting the farms. That way there are less people on the streets, and our fleets are fixed. Leonardsen, I’m sure that you are capable of finding ways to pay them.”

      The Councilor nodded, reluctant to say anything else, and pulled a sheet of parchment to himself, and began to write. “What of foreign relations, anything new to report?” the queen asked, turning once again to another.

     “Nothing new. At the moment, we suspect that the other nations are evaluating the, change in scenery,” Councilor Erickson said. “Another matter of importance, the British have lost their colony in North America.”

    “Their bid for independence was successful,” Elsa wondered aloud, surprised. “Any thoughts on how that will change the current political climate?”

     “They’ll likely look into other colonies after this, maybe in the Pacific.”

     “Alright,” Elsa let out a slight breath. With the British controlling the seas, there had always been a sense of pressure coming from them. Still, being thrown out of North America would hopefully give Arendelle some breathing room, especially to move their ships throughout the seas. “And anything else?”

     “Corona had members of its royal family here, during the event,” Erickson began, and Elsa noticed how he intentionally went out of his way to not refer to her actions by any sort of name. She silently thanked him for that, not wishing to remember what had happened. “They are fine, at this moment, and back in their homeland. They have expressed a desire, however, to send members of the royal family to Arendelle in some months for the purposes of a diplomatic visit. I have yet to give approval for such a visit, and was wishing for your approval.”

     Elsa nodded, keeping silent as she thought. There were dozens of small kingdoms that had yet to be gobbled up by the larger nations. Corona was one such place, located on the eastern coast of the Pyrenees. From what Elsa understood, their had been a succession crisis for over a dozen years. Like how Arendelle had yet to be taken into a larger nation, so Corona had avoided both France and Spain for years. The two had been allied for some years, as the smaller nations of the world often times had to stick with one another.

     “Tell them that they are welcome whenever they wish to come,” Elsa finally decided. “I suppose that they would prefer to further our alliance.”

     “I would hope as much,” Erickson admitted. “I’ll send the documents.”

     “Good. Do you have any ideas as to who they’ll send?” Elsa asked. The last thing she needed was someone like the recent bout of diplomats in her life again. There were nights when she would wake up, frost covering her sheets, screaming as she remembered the horrid days that had just occurred.

     “They’re daughter has little experience in the world,” Erickson replied. “They have mentioned potentially sending her.” Elsa nodded mutely, not having anything else to say on the matter.

     “And on internal relations?” Elsa asked, eager for the morning’s meeting to be over. There had been several meetings scheduled in the afternoon, and, being her first day truly in the role, Elsa had wanted to take things at a slower pace than she expected she would be forced to take them at later.

     “Nothing hugely,” Councilor Arnesen answered. He was a rather stout man, with a double chin and a large onyx beard that covered most of his face. He was the one member of the Council that Elsa had met with regularly before. She had made acquaintances with the others before, but it had been her personal mission to make sure that she met with Arnesen several times before she assumed the throne. “The people have reacted, relatively well, I would say. Their loyalty to your parents has extended on to you.” _Good,_ Elsa thought to herself, _the last thing I need on top of everything else is for an unruly mob._

    “If there are no other matters of great import, then I shall take my leave,” Elsa said. There were no other voices rising, so she stood, as did the others. They all bowed to her, and with that she turned to leave.

     After a few hallways of turns, she heard someone walking beside her. Elsa turned to look, and saw that Arnesen was struggling to keep up with her. “Councilor,” she said. “Is there anything that you need of me? I would think that the meeting went well. Relatively speaking.” In truth, she had hoped that the others would be a little more accommodating, but she supposed it was better than demanding her abdication.

     “You haven’t seen much of what else they speak of,” Arnesen replied. “You know how they can overrule your decisions so long as all of us vote unanimously?” After Elsa nodded, he continued. “They doubt that you can perform well. They intend on overruling you at every chance they get. Leonardsen  is more blatant than the others, but they all intend on reining you in.”

     “And you?” Elsa asked. She noticed a thin veil of icy mist coming from her hands, and after a moment of focus it faded.

      “I intend on remaining loyal to the family,” Arnesen answered. “Your parents were good to me when times were hard for me. I intend on repaying them to the best of my abilities. Still, the others could remove me from the Council if they wanted to, and replace me with someone more to their liking.”

     Elsa gave a small smile, hoping to bring the older man’s spirits up, and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Arnesen. It won’t come to that.”

     He shook his head sadly. “Don’t be so sure. This nation may look strong from the outside, despite what has happened. There is too much in-fighting, though. In truth, Arendelle is broken. A structure still made out of the scraps that it had once been. All it takes is a strong push to knock us over.”


	3. Lord Randolph

**Chapter Two: Lord Randolph**

_HBMS Lord Clint_ broke solidly through the water ahead, moving powerfully to the coast. The small city of Ijmuiden was located directly ahead of the ship, and Captain Peak watched it approach from where he stood at the prow of the ship. This was their final stop before making their way further north, and Peak hoped to be done in Ijmuiden as swiftly as could be. The freezing of the North Sea was thought by some to have changed weather patterns for the foreseeable future. If he could, Peak would be in Arendelle before any bad weather could arrive from such changes.

     A loosely folded paper was held in Peak’s loose grip, flapping slightly in the wind. He looked down at it once more, reading the name and address of the man that would be brought onto the ship from here. Besides obtaining the meager amount of supplies that would be needed for the rest of their journey, Ijmuiden would also be where they met their expert for assessing the Queen. Peak had read over what he was given several times last night and this morning, wishing to learn as much as he could about his associate. Lord Randolph was a minor noble, born and raised in Leeds, he was notable for military service in southeast Asia, as well as some time in the Caribbean. He had graduated from the University of Oxford four years ago. What he was doing in Ijmuiden, Peak couldn’t guess.

     Half an hour later, Peak found himself at a fairly large hostel, near the waterside. It was a recent construction, Peak noticed, the year of construction posted on a bronze sign in front of the building: 1756. After adjusting his coat, Peak stepped inside. The lobby of the hostel was well furnished, with dozens of chairs placed around and rich carpets covering the floor. A fireplace was open and lit on the other side of the lobby. Peak looked across the room, hoping to find Lord Randolph on the immediate look-through.

     Randolph was considerate when it came to making himself noticeable, at least, Peak decided, when his eyes settled upon the young Lord. He was sitting next to a small cherry table, on which a multitude of books were set. A bag was placed next to the books, as well as some instrument that Peak couldn’t identify, which looked like a small spyglass with tongs on its sides. He was currently reading a book, as well as drinking what appeared to be a cup of tea. Peak moved over to where the young Lord was sitting, sat opposite of him, and waited for the young man to lift his head from his book.

     After a moment, Lord Randolph looked upward. He was heterochromatic, Peak observed, one green eye and one blue showed from underneath of a sea of curly black hair. Randolph was pale, and his face was gaunt. Acne covered his naked chin, and Randolph pulled a blue scarf that he was wearing up over his chin after Peak looked there. The captain held out his hand, and Lord Randolph shook it, his own coat sliding down on his arm as he lifted it up.

     “Lord Randolph, I presume?” Peak asked.

     “Captain Graham Peak,” Lord Randolph replied. “By all means, simply call me Randolph.” He took a drink from his tea before speaking again. “I’ve been told that I don’t quite make a fitting Lord just yet. I trust that your voyage was pleasant?”

     “Pleasant enough,” Peak replied. The boy nodded silently. “And so should the next part of our voyage. It would seem that the weather favors us today. Sailing should be smooth.”

     “Good,” Randolph said. He set his current readings down on the table. Peak looked at it, it was a copy of Thomas Paine’s _Common Sense_. Curious, Peak lifted the pamphlet, as the next book was written in some other writing system. “I get terribly sick while at sea,” Randolph continued, “I hope that I will not spend to much of my time on board hurling over the side.”

     “You can take my cabin, if need be,” Peak said. It wouldn’t have been the first time that he had spent a deal of time with his men instead of the captain’s cabin.

     “Thank you very much, Captain,” Randolph said. “I must say, despite my trepidation, I am very eager to see the ship. What is her name?”

     “ _Lord Clint_ ,” Peak answered.

     “Hardly a female name, but I suppose it will do,” the boy commented, apparently unaware of the insult. “Which Lord Clint is the ship named after, may I ask?”

    “I am unaware,” Peak admitted. He hadn’t been the first one to captain the ship, in fact, it had been built and christened _Lord Clint_ before he had even joined the navy.

     Lord Randolph made a small noise in the back of his throat that Peak wasn’t sure what to make of. “Your accent,” he began instead, turning away from the topic at hand. “You are from Ireland, are you not?”

    “My father was English, but lived in Ireland since when he was a child,” Peak admitted once more. “My mother was an Irish native.”

     “Well, congratulations on your appointment, Captain,” Lord Randolph said, reaching out and shaking Peak’s hand once more. “You certainly must have had to work uphill for that, did you not.” Peak didn’t answer. “In any case, shall we be going? I would like to be getting this boat ride over as soon as possible.” With that, Lord Randolph rose, taking one last drink from his tea. “If you would be kind enough to take these,” Randolph gestured to the books as he slid his bag onto his body and took the instrument in one hand. Peak complied, picking the books up.

     “What script is this one in?” Peak asked, gesturing as best he could to the book he had seen earlier.

     “Oh, that one,” Lord Randolph looked over at the book. “Devanagari. I learned to read it while in India for some years. Fascinating place.”

     “I’ve never been,” was the only thing that Peak could think to reply with. Trying to think of a new angle for the conversation, he asked, “So, what experience do you have with things like this?”

     “You mean with cryokinetics,” Lord Randolph replied, letting out a goofy smile as he did so. “I wish I could say that I have met one before, but sadly I have not. Still, it should be exciting. If you worried over my credentials, there is no need. I am well learned in multiple areas of biology, as well as many theories of how energy flows through the body. I can only assume that the crown chose my carefully. I can assure you, Captain, you will not be disappointed.”

     “It isn’t me you need to worry about,” Peak said. “I don’t think that anyone will be very happy if the entire North Sea freezes over again, or worse.”

     “How much do we truly know?” Lord Randolph asked. “We know that this Queen, Queen Elsa I believe is her name, is a cryokinetic—someone able to control ice—and that she was responsible for the thin layer of ice over the North Sea, as well as the frost over Norway. I have heard that it was worse in her home nation than elsewhere, but the question remains, how much can she truly do?”

     “You want to encourage such things?” Peak asked. “She could freeze the entire world over.” At this, Lord Randolph let out a hearty laugh. The scarf that he had pulled over his chin fell back down, but he didn’t move to pull it back up.

     “No, you misunderstand me, Captain,” he said, still chuckling slightly. “It is not my wish to encourage such behavior. I was merely stating that, from a scientific perspective, it would be fascinating to know what the upper limit of her abilities are. And, while we are on the subject, I doubt that she could freeze the world over. She is still a human, after all.”

     “And how would you know that?” Peak asked the young Lord as they turned off of the street they had been on, coming to the harbor. _Lord Clint_ was facing them like a proud beauty, the bowsprit jutting out over the cobblestone.

     “Just, when you think about it, there have to have been some other humans, before this Queen, that have had similar abilities. Even if the chance is only one in a million, that would still mean that there have been many such people. You would think that, if it were possible to freeze the world, that one of them would have tried to do it before? Just, maybe for now reason, try to freeze the world, just to see if they could do it. But, as far as we know, the world has never frozen over. Therefore, I see no reason why as to believe that this Queen has abilities to that level.”

     “I see,” Peak said. “I must say, I agree with that. It is good to have you on board, Lord Randolph.”

     As he crossed the threshold onto the ship, the young Lord replied, “I would not miss this for anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slight disclaimer: I am not very well educated when it comes to small historical details, or even some larger parts of history. That being said, I have tried to make this work of fiction as historically accurate as I can, given the pace at which I am writing it (I tend to write a chapter every two days, and publish it almost immediately after I finish writing. You guys are reading stuff that has not gone through any editing). I hope that you will be patient and kind as I almost assuredly blunder through history. Feel free to leave critical comments if you wish, I only ask that such comments are not hateful drivel, but instead constructive in some manner.  
> Finally, thank you to everyone who has been reading, kudoing, and the like. You guys are the reason that I write this.


	4. Sibling Conference

**Chapter Three: Sibling Conference**

     Elsa had left several warnings to her younger sister that she would be busy through much of the afternoon, dealing with a variety of meetings, as well as petitions, and other businesses that she was required to look after. Therefore, it should have been no surprise to her that Anna would have been slightly more hyper than she had been on most other days. The princess was known for her amorous, yet aggressive actions, and the magnitude of such actions generally increased the longer she was kept away from the focus of her attention. Still, Elsa had not expected for her sister to all but literally barrel into her the moment she entered the residential wing of the palace. Half a tackle and half a hug, Anna’s dive immediately threw Elsa off balance, and as the two fell backwards she created a large layer of snow to absorb the impact.

     “You could just say hello next time,” Elsa mock-groaned as she lay in the snow. She didn’t mind the snow for the cold, as she couldn’t feel it any more than someone else might feel a slight breeze. Rather, it was because when her powers weren’t used in a reactionary manner, when she was completely calm, it was harder to utilize her abilities.

     “Where would be the fun in that?” Anne grinned down at her sister. There was a look in her blue eyes, some might say more of a manic look, but Elsa would classify it as simple happiness.

     “I suppose that if you hadn’t done that, then I couldn’t do this,” Elsa smirked as she took a handful of snow from underneath of herself and shoved it onto her sister’s head. The moment that Anna registered the cold she leapt off of Elsa, giving the queen more room to stand up from the floor. Elsa took the moment to force the snow to dissipate before returning her attention to her sister, who was now shaking her head around in an attempt to dislodge the snow.

     “You’re evil,” Anna said in a mocking tone as she finally pulled a bunch of snow off from her neck and threw it at her sister. The matter didn’t fly far; however, as Elsa waved a hand and caused it to disappear before it could strike her. Ever since getting a hold of her powers, she found it easier to destroy snow and ice than to create it.

     “As if you aren’t,” Elsa replied in a similar tone, and continued to walk back towards her room. “If you hadn’t tackled me, then you wouldn’t have had snow to concern yourself with.”

     “You could have held up, just stood still.”

     “And you misjudge your strength,” Elsa responded. If rumors were true, then the princess spent more time in the training grounds than most of the guards did. “I’ve always been wondering as to why you’ve trained so often.”

     “Simple,” came Anna’s reply. “I don’t want another situation where I can’t protect myself. I can fight off a bunch of wolves, but other humans are a different deal. You should try the same! We could practice together, it would be fun.”

     Elsa sighed slightly. “Your ideas of fun are different from mine,” she admitted. Her own ideas of fun involved reading, or potentially drawing architectural plans. “Not to mention that I would prefer to use magic in combat, if I would ever need to. The whole ‘Ice Queen’ idea may be a bit cliché, but you can’t deny that it certainly does add a bit of, what’s the word I’m looking for?”

     “Imagery,” Anne suggested.

     “Works for me,” Elsa shrugged. “How was your day?” Elsa immediately regretted asking the question, as her younger sister seemed to take this as a prompt to launch into a retelling of her entire day. It was when Elsa had reached the door to her room, and Anna was still on the discussion of breakfast that the queen finally spoke up again. “Maybe you could give me the abbreviated version.”

     “Oh, well, we went and saw Marshmallow, me and Olaf that is,” Anna began her tale for the second time. “We wanted to explore your castle.”

     “Marshmallow?” Elsa asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

     “That’s what Olaf calls your. . .” Anna struggled for a moment to come up with the right word, until finally settling on, “butler. He likes the name.” Anna added. Elsa faked rubbing her head as if due to a migraine.

     “That’s what I get for letting Olaf name things,” she said, just barely loud enough that Anna could hear. “New decree, Olaf may never name anything again.”

     Anna laughed, tilting her head back and making the beautiful noise. “Anyways,” she continued. “I also did some drills, and then visited the local chemist. They gave me a medicine that should help.” Ever since she had been frozen over, Anna had suffered from a chronic cough. Elsa nodded as she sat down at her desk, which was already stacked with various papers. Now, as she only needed to sign some documents, she had agreed to let Anna stay and talk. “I don’t like the taste, though.”

     “What does it taste like?” Elsa asked absently, reading over a shipment plan before signing it.

     “Mint,” Anna made a face as she described the plant. Elsa ignored her sister’s antics and returned her attention to the profiles that she had asked for. She needed to replace one of her councilors, but as to which one she wasn’t sure. Leonardsen was the most obvious choice, though if one of the others was slighted, they could  be a more dangerous threat. Arnesen and Steensen were the two that she undoubtedly wanted to remain on her Council. That left four potential others to be ousted from their positions. From that, she still needed to consider the potential replacements, whose profiles she had asked for. She briefly looked them over, before sighing in relief. She would have to speak with him, but it seemed that the potential choice for the Councilor of Economics had potential: having served as a high-up in the Honourable East India Company he would have experience with matters. She put the paper aside as a potential solution, then looked at the next one.

     “It would seem that we’re going to be having visitors,” Elsa told her sister. “Two days from now.”

     “Who?” Anna asked, moving over to peek over Elsa’s shoulder. Unfortunately for her, the back of Elsa’s chair was too high for her to be able to look at the paper, and so she instead settled on looking directly over the desk, her head obstructing any view that the Queen had of the letter. “I can’t read this.”

     “That’s because you’re looking at it from upside down,” Elsa pointed out. “And move, I have yet to finish reading it.” After Anna moved her head, she continued to read.

     “A few diplomats from England are coming here. Maybe they’re coming to talk about business.”

     “We do business with England?” Anna asked.

     “Ice primarily, and some timber that’s native to Arendelle. It used to be our primary export to Weselton. Now that trade has been cut off between us, we’ve started looking at other places. In addition, we have started to be any other resources that would have been heading there, and selling them to other nations. With any luck, they’ll get back into our graces.” Elsa sincerely hoped that the issue with Weselton could be solved quickly. She had kept trade with the Southern Nations because they had agreed to punish their Prince, but no such reparations had been promised from the small German state. Until such a time as Weselton would be more open, then there would be no communications between the two nations. Privately, Elsa hoped that she hadn’t made the decision rashly. “How is Kristoff?” she asked, hoping to take her mind off of business for the moment.

     “Fine, he’s fine,” Anna answered. “We talked about some things earlier in the week, got our relationship in order.”

     “And that is?” Elsa asked, letting an eyebrow raise.

     “Friends,” was the answer, and it shocked Elsa slightly. “We got caught up in the moment, and then there was the euphoria afterwards. He’s nice, but, I don’t know. Not the one, you know?” Elsa shrugged, not having the experience to know what to say in this regard. “Anyways, I need to go,” Anna stood from where she had strewn herself across the desk and pulled a few pieces of hair back. It looked nice, Elsa decided, and she had to remind herself not to mention it. “See you later, alright?”

     “Of course,” Elsa replied, and she watched as her sister left from the room. Then she returned her attention to the papers on her desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The primary plot begins here. I saw Frozen over the weekend, and I loved it. The troll song was bad, but that was the only part I didn't like (barring the opening skit). Like the actual movie, I expect that the rest of the story, starting at the next chapter, will take roughly 72 hours in story.


	5. Landfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things I would like to state before this chapter:  
> 1\. I have made edits to previous chapters due to an anachronism I had made. The term HMS (His or Her Majesties' Ship), if I am correct, came into use in 1789. Before that, the term was HBMS (His or Hers Britannic Majesties' Ship). As this fic takes place in 1784, there was a change that obviously needed to be made.  
> 2\. Peak's thoughts throughout this chapter are his own, not mine. Please do not assume that any thoughts or comments he makes are indicative of me or my way of thinking.

**Chapter Four: Landfall**

_Lord Clint_ was met in the bay by a staggering old ship whose mast had cracked off near the halfway mark. A collection of motley sails were strung up to provide the ship with some form of movement, as well as the oars that they were using for propulsion. Captain Peak watched as the limping vessel drew closer, and held back the urge to grin slightly. He had heard that Arendelle’s fleet had been devastated by recent events, but if this was the best they could send forth then there would be no reason to fear in case of a naval battle.

     Beyond the ship in front of them, the rest of the kingdom spread out on the horizon. The capital city was on the waterfront, shrouded by the dark clouds that covered the sky. Beyond the capital and the brief level lands, the terrain moved up and into the mountains. Peak gazed up the river that flowed into the North Sea, watching it travel further into the fjord. The mountains here were surprisingly close to the coast, and Peak wondered how much land here could possibly be arable.

     His thoughts changed as the ship in front of them came closer. He looked closely, and saw that it was named the _ARF Creon_. It was small, with sixty guns at most, Peak decided. _Lord Clint_ , in comparison, boasted an array of one-hundred-and-two guns, more than capable of destroying the _Creon_ if battle was to come. His crew, just less than eight-hundred strong, would also be able to board the _Creon_ and take it over with minimal losses. Peak did not; however, need to worry in regards to battle. Both ships were, below the flags of their nations ( _Lord Clint_ waving the red-crossed flag, and _Creon_ waving Arendelle’s purple and white checkered flag) were two flags of pure white, a sign of peace that they had both agreed upon. There would be no fighting today, of that much Peak could hope.

_Creon_ groaned past, listed so badly that Peak could barely see its deck. A figure appeared on its deck, and hollered out. “Are you the captain?”

_No,_ Peak thought, _I’m the cabin boy and I stole his uniform._ He forgot the comment as swiftly as it came; though, and instead chose to lift himself to his full height and call back. “Yes, Captain Peak. You must be Captain Franz.” There had been some small amounts of correspondence between them in the days before the voyage began. The other figure nodded, and Peak had to admit that Captain Franz looked much like how he had imagined him to be. Large and tall, the captain made an imposing figure that was only ruined by the fact that his uniform was nothing more than a grey overcoat and a cap. _Perhaps he hadn’t the time to get dressed fully today,_ Peak wondered, but decided not to ask.

     “You’ll want to dock there,” Captain Franz shouted, waving his hands in the direction of a long length on an empty pier, just over a hundred meters in length, Peak estimated. There would be more than enough room for _Lord Clint_ to find its way in there, and so after he gave instructions to the helmsman, he went into the captain’s quarters.

      “We’ve arrived,” Peak said to Lord Randolph as he entered the cabin, causing the young man to look up from the book he was reading. “Do you do anything other than read?”

     Gesturing to the large windows behind him, Lord Randolph replied. “Besides vomiting, no. Eating, sleeping, and vomiting are the only other things that I’ve found myself capable of doing.”

     “Well, I’m glad for you that we’re here now,” the captain said, leaning over to see the book. “What’s this?”

     “A collection of tales. This here is an un-translated copy of _The Lay of Thrym_ , written by one of Arendelle’s greatest scribes some time before they had a printing press, though the entire book is a collection of old Norse myths. This one is a favorite of mine.”

     “What happens?” the captain asked, taking a seat.

     “Thor, their god of thunder, loses his hammer. Loki, the god of mischief, finds out that the giant Thrym has taken it, and Thrym tells that he will give it back if the godess Freya will marry him. Freya refuses, and so Thor dressed in Freya’s place and attends the wedding with Loki. He retrieves his hammer after Loki convinces everyone that Thor is Freya, and then Thor defeats everyone in the hall.” Lord Randolph had looked back down on the book, and as he looked back up Peak was caught trying to hold in a laugh. “Everything alright?” the young man asked.

     “No, just the image of him dressed in a wedding gown is stuck in my mind,” Peak finally let out a laugh. He thought he heard Lord Randolph say something in comment, but he didn’t hear what it was. After a moment, he was calmed. “So,” Peak continued, “Why read about the cross-dressing god?”

      “Learning about a people’s culture can help you to prepare you for them.” With that, Lord Randolph shut his book and slid it into his bag. “I don’t suppose that our Queen is going to be meeting as at the docks?”

     “I would not think so,” Peak replied. “I cannot imagine royalty acting in such a manner.”

      “A pity,” Lord Randolph sighed as he continued to put objects away. “I had been hoping to get groundwork as soon as possible.”

     “Speaking on the manner,” Peak began. “I need to speak to you on a matter involving this Queen.”

     “And that is?” Lord Randolph asked, sitting back down across from Peak. His heterochromatic eyes looked at Peak as if he was a child, being told the first serious thing in his life. _Of course,_ Captain Peak thought to himself, _he is a child of nobility. This could be the first serious thing he has had to do in his life._

     “What the crown needs to know is whether or not Queen Elsa poses any military threat. If sources are accurate, she froze the North Sea over by accident. If you think that she could become a threat, either because of her powers or because of any agenda, you let me know, immediately.” Peak had built a career on being dependable, on being able to inform his superiors of all matters and trust their orders. He only hoped that the boy in front of him could do the same.

     “What is our plan should she be a threat?” Lord Randolph asked. Peak all but rolled his eyes. _Can the boy not see it,_ he thought before answering.

     “ _Lord Clint_ can defeat anything Arendelle with throw at us, with the exception of their Queen, and even her, maybe. If problems arise, I will need for you to come up with some way to neutralize the Queen, and then we destroy their fleet. If we have to, we take the Queen with us; otherwise, we kill her here.” Peak found that over time he had stopped asking himself whether or not the actions he performed were right or wrong. _So long as the crown commands,_ he told himself. Lord Randolph must have been thinking along the same measures, because he did nothing save for nodding. His face was hard, more serious than it had looked in a long time. All throughout their voyage he had been in light spirits, even when he had been sick. The time that they had seen a whale he had almost fallen off of the ship trying to strain himself and see it. The second time they saw a whale, he did fall off of the ship and into the sea. While Captain Peak wouldn’t say that Lord Randolph was annoying, it was certainly comforting to know that he could at least appear to be serious.

     “Alright,” Lord Randolph finally said. “Thank you for informing me of what could happen. I will be out in some time.”

     It truly ended up being some time before Lord Randolph pulled himself out of the captain’s cabin and onto the deck itself. The lord was carrying several large bags, one of which was immediately taken by a sailor and set out on the docks. They had secured themselves several minutes before Lord Randolph had come out, and by the time that he walked across the gangplank, Captain Peak was discussing matters with the captain of the guard, a thin, young man who was going to escort them to the palace. Captain Peak had almost told the man that there was no issue, as they could clearly see the palace from where they were, but the captain of the guard had insisted. “Ah,” the captain of the guard had said, causing Captain Peak to turn around and see that Lord Randolph was approaching, arms filled with bags and scarf wrapped around his chin. “You must be Lord Randolph.” The captain of the guard stuck out a hand, and after passing a bag to Captain Peak, Lord Randolph shook it.

     Taking back his bag, Lord Randolph replied. “The one. I hate to be blunt, but the sooner that I can speak with the Queen the better.”

     “Of course,” the captain of the guard said, taking one of Lord Randolph’s bags. They began to move, Lord Randolph still carrying most of the assorted bags, the captain of the guard trying to look inspiring while holding a large lime-green bag as well as holding the pommel of his sword (an act which he failed at), and Captain Peak carrying nothing but resting his hand upon the pommel of his sword.

     “It’s dark today,” Lord Randolph commented. “Is the weather oftentimes like this?”

     “No, not normally,” came the answer. “On most days the sun is out. The Queen has taken to constructing a skating pond on the castle ground on most days when it is light out. As today is not such a day, I’m afraid you missed it.”

     Peak looked over to Lord Randolph, who shrugged. “I suppose that we can confirm that she is cryokinetic,” Lord Randolph said. _Hallelujah,_ Peak thought, _now all we need to know is whether or not she can freeze the world. I can already see it, “World Destroyed by Adolescent Royalty”. Joyous._ “So,” the young lord continued as they passed a bookshop. “Could you tell us as to whether or not she caused the freeze?”

     “She did, yes,” the captain of the guard said, and Peak’s heart sunk a little more. “It was an emotional time for her, from what I hear. From what I know, the magic is keyed in to her emotions.” Lord Randolph nodded, and Peak had to keep from groaning. _We’ll have to deal with a blizzard every month,_ he thought. “But, she’s managed to control herself since,” the captain of the guard continued, “and from that we’ve gotten Olaf.”

     “Olaf?” Captain Peak asked. There had been nothing on any Olaf in his files. Quickly, he thought of all the different people that Olaf could be: a mercenary, a paramour, some new noble.

     “A snowman she created,” was the answer the came forth. “Little guy, he can walk and talk just like the rest of us.” Captain Peak allowed himself to relax slightly, until he noticed that Lord Randolph’s face had gone even more pale.

     “Lord Randolph,” Peak asked, and the captain of the guard turned around to look at the nobleman. “Is there a problem.”

     “Sapient snowmen,” Lord Randolph muttered. “I need to see her as soon as possible. I did not expect this.”


	6. Bhrigus Arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title has references to Hindu mythology/religion. Free internet cookie to whoever first figures out the meaning.

**Chapter Five: Bhrigus Arrives**

     “Your Grace,” Kai began, causing Elsa to look up from her papers. She had just finished meeting with Louis Cornett, the potential replacement for the Councilor of Economics. He seemed to be confident in his abilities, not to mention competent enough to take over for Leonardsen. It was a relief to have the matter almost over, and the Queen had been in an ecstatic state since before noon. “The party from England is here to meet you.”

     “Thank you, Kai,” Elsa replied, lifting herself out of her seat. Like most mornings when appearances had not been an issue, she had let her hair down. Realizing that, she pulled it all back and created a ring of ice to hold it back. “Shall we greet them.” Out of habit she slipped her gloves on, and began to move. A thin line of worry cropped up for half a second, until she squashed it firmly. Now that she could avoid destroying a city when she was angry or worried, Elsa felt confident that she could great a few diplomats. _The worst trials are over,_ she thought, _now it’s just courtesies._

     The way from Elsa’s rooms to the throne room took her above the throne room on a small balcony. Her mother had been the one to suggest its creation, saying that it would allow for the monarch to see those they were to meet before they would see the monarch. As Elsa walked along, she took advantage of that.

     Below her were two men, standing in the center of the room and staring off to the sides. One was tall and firmly built, with almost copper hair. The other one was smaller and thinner, though he looked larger than he likely was in reality due to the fact that he was carrying a multitude of bags on his shoulders. “Captain Graham Peak,” Elsa asked Kai, pointing to the larger man. The fact that he was wearing the coat of a naval officer was the giveaway, and after Kai nodded she realized that it would have been fairly easy to figure. _So the other one is the “expert”,_ Elsa thought. He seemed small, even runt-like, and the reason was not that he was beneath her at the moment. Perhaps it was the captain standing next to him that made Lord Randolph Dabney seem so small, a matter of the perspective created by the imposing figure next to him. Elsa decided that was most likely the case, and continued walking. As she did so, a scepter made of ice grew in her hand, intricate and entirely hollow. It had been Anna’s idea to use her powers to intimidate others, and though Elsa had initially gone against the barbarity of the idea, she grew to understand the concept: make others understand that you are not to be trifled with. It had taken her a little less than an hour to come up with. Geometric angles and sharp corners made up the outsides, leading to a spiral that made up the center structure. The center was cylindrical, and was the single part of the scepter that could be safely held. It made for a beautiful but deadly looking tool, and Elsa had found that it had already intimidated several people that had met her.

     The captain, as it turned out, was one such person, as he moved back slightly when he saw the scepter. His eyes locked onto it and then onto her.  His companion also looked at the scepter at first, but continued looking at it for long after Peak’s eyes had met her own. “Your Grace,” the captain began, bowing after he spoke. He gave a nudge to Lord Randolph, who started and then bowed as well. “We thank you for your hospitality.”

 _As if  I had a choice,_ Elsa thought darkly, though she refused to say it. It was vital that Arendelle not get into any military conflicts for some time in the foreseeable future. They still needed to have the fields replanted, as well as needing to repair their fleet for both military and economic means. At the moment, Arendelle was utterly blind, forced to rely mostly on others, and Elsa would be damned if she brought the country into a worse position than it was already in. She felt a prick on her thumb, and realized that a spine was growing out of her scepter. She focused on it, and determined that it was the only spine, and with a push it vanished. “It is our pleasure to have you here. I am afraid that I do not have time to meet with you today,” she said. “Kai will show you to your rooms. Perhaps we shall have time to speak at dinner.”

     “Of course, Your Grace,” the captain replied. “If I may ask one thing of you before you leave us: do you know why we are here? I merely hope to make sure we are at an understanding.”

     “Of course, Captain. You are here to establish that I present no threat to England, or any other European power. I can assure you; however, my powers are well under control. If your expert here,” she said, gesturing with the scepter at Lord Randolph, who noticeably straightened his back when the implement was pointed. “Would like to speak with me to alleviate some of your anxiety, I suppose that I could spare a few moments.”

     The two looked at one another, and Lord Randolph spoke. His voice was an octave higher Elsa had expected, and the way he crossed his legs over one another as he stood looked positively demure. “Of course, Your Grace. Your offer is most kind, and I would love to accept it.”

     “Very well then,” she said. “Come with me. I would prefer privacy for this discussion.” She led him into their ballroom, clean from when it had been brushed up for her coronation, but completely empty. The moment that they were in privacy, the lord behind her immediately spoke up, and Elsa realized that he had slowed his speech before. Now he began to speak incredibly quickly, and it took her a moment to realize what he was saying.

      “I had heard what was going on here while I was in Copenhagen. The snow didn’t reach there, but the rumors certainly did. They were confirmed to me by Corona’s heir and her husband, they were travelling back by land to their home, after their ship had been frozen over. The land passages hadn’t snowed over by then, though they were snowed over when I tried to travel through. Otherwise I would have arrived sooner. The fact that you could block off Norway like that is just…”

     “Please, please,” Elsa began, raising a gloved hand and motioning for him to slow down. He eventually did so, and she continued. “I only have time right now to answer the most basic of questions.”

     “Of course,” Lord Randolph said. “Exactly when did you begin to notice your powers?”

     Elsa frowned, trying to recall exactly when she had begun to create ice and snow. This was the same ballroom where she had first created it, she realized, when she had created a snow bank to keep herself from falling on the floor. It was the same one where she had hurt Anna, the same one where her powers had been revealed to the world. She sighed, realizing that, despite the pain that she had felt then, her life had been much simpler when she was a child. “When I was four,” she finally said. “I think it was when I was four.”

     Beside her, Lord Randolph nodded. “Four is a nice year. I started talking when I was four.” Elsa gave him an odd look, and he shrugged. “Not proud of it, but it’s true. So you can control ice and snow. Is that it?”

     “I think so,” she answered. “Though I may also be able to control the wind, but only when its cold.”

     “Alright,” Lord Randolph continued, pressing his fingers against his palm as he talked, almost as if he was writing on them. “Final question, I understand that you’re busy. Where do your powers come from?”

     “Love,” Elsa answered, and in that moment her thoughts strayed. Arendelle, her parents, and Anna all flashed in front of her eyes for a moment each, Anna’s image remaining in her mind longer than the others. “From what I understand, love is what controls my powers.”

     “Everyone has to start somewhere,” was Lord Randolph’s reply. “Thank you for your time, Your Grace. If you will excuse, I need to ponder on this.” With that he turned and left the room, leaving Elsa on her own in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do realize that this story starts out slowly, and I would like to thank everyone who has been reading thus far. This marks the point where it truly begins to speed up, so if you stopped reading because nothing happened, I can assure you, stuff will start to happen now.


	7. Placebo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter begins my usage of Artistic License: Biology, as well as divulging into Alternate History. A geneticist is mentioned in this chapter, they are completely fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead are completely coincidental.

**Chapter Six: Placebo**

_Remember your training,_ he thought to himself as he sat on the floor of his chambers. _Remember who you are. You are Randolph Dabney, and you are capable of this. You control your body, it does not control you. Conquer the mind, conquer the emotions. Once again, follow the path. Do not view this as you would have before. There are always other ways._ He would have continued to think along the same line, but he heard someone at his door, and had to pull himself up to his feet. “Come in,” Randolph called out, expecting to see Captain Peak. The infuriating man had made sure to spend as much time as he could with Randolph on their way to Arendelle. Perhaps the man meant well, Randolph could not tell given the limited amount Randolph knew about Peak.

     After their voyage, Randolph had wanted some time to his own, away from the overbearing captain and from anyone else. Solitude had always been preferable for Randolph, and now of all times he felt that it would do him the most good. As such, he was somewhat happy that the person who came in was not in fact the captain, but instead a member of the Arendelle royal family. That much he could guess from the quality of the girl’s clothing, which was a fetching dress of green and blue. She had reddish-blonde pigtails coiled around her back, and she lived up to her hair color as she boldly moved towards him and all but yelled at him. “Who do you think you are!”

     “I’m sorry?” Randolph asked, unsure of what she was talking about. _Have I insulted someone accidentally?_ He had accidentally done as much once to a diplomat from China.

     However, the girl did not seem to understand that he had been asking a question, as she then said, “Oh, well then, good. I’ll let you apologize to my sister later.”

_So this is the princess,_ Randolph thought, and searched for a moment to try and remember her name. _Anne? Annette, no, it was Anna. Remember that._ “No,” he began to correct her. “I said sorry because I didn’t know what I had done. If you would care to inform me, then I shall take care not to perform it any more.”

     “Oh,” the princess pursed her lips tightly. “You told my sister ‘everyone starts somewhere’. She is very conscious about not being able to control her powers. Don’t make comments like that, for her benefit.”

     “She still fears what she did,” Randolph muttered, realization kicking in. _Damn it,_ he scolded himself, _just like before, never thinking about how others will react. Always talking without thinking._ “I will apologize to her as soon as I am given the chance. I can assure you, that was not my intention.”

     “And what was your intention?” the princess asked, sitting down in one of the two chairs that were in the room. His quarters had been modestly furnished, a large bed in the back, a desk in one corner, two chairs and a table in the center, next to a fireplace, in which a fire was currently crackling. Its harsh orange and gold colors were the principle source of light in the room, as he had shut the curtains to the large window earlier. He worked better when there was little light, when he was covered in shadows, or when firelight was the principle source of illumination.

     “To be frank, England is terrified of what your sister could potentially do,” Randolph said as he sat down across from her. “They want for us to determine whether or not she is a danger, and if she is, to deal appropriately. The captain I’m with, I’m afraid, will take things in a rather. . . militant manner. I wish to avoid that, and in order to assure my success, I need to know as much about your sister as I can. Can I ask you?” After Anna nodded, he spoke again. “Are you sure. I need the truth, not the truth from a sister, the truth from an observer. I know that you will want to keep her safe, but I need to know as much as is possible.”

     “Alright,” Anna replied, though she seemed slightly uncomfortable by the prospect. Her reddish hair was reflected well by the flames. _Red hair and blonde are both recessive traits, Guo Zhi proved that much. One of the parents was blonde, but it would be hard for both colors to come about. Not to mention that there should have been some sort of mention of magic earlier in the family tree. Are they actually related?_

     Choosing not to comment on lineage, Randolph instead asked, “Do you think that your sister is in control of her powers. That is really the only question that we need to establish at this exact moment.”

     Anna nodded. “I would think so. She still has some problems when stress, or anger, gets to her, but she’s trying.”

     Randolph nodded. “We all start somewhere.” _I’ve met more than enough people to know that. Perhaps I will start her on the path as well._ In truth, he was unskilled in the technique he utilized, having only completed, at least he thought, two steps along the path. He looked down at his scarred hands for a moment before shifting his gaze back up to Anna. “In case she does lose control again, is there any way devised to keep her, as well as Arendelle, safe?”

Anna nodded slowly, and pulled a pair of gloves out from a pocket. “She gave these to me. They limit her powers. She can still use them, but they’re weakened.”

     “May I?” Randolph asked, and she handed the gloves to him. He slipped them on before frowning, and pulling them back off. “These are a placebo.” He stopped talking for a moment, to think. “Do not let her know that. As long as she thinks that they will work, then they should. I think that if I talk to her, then we will get everything fixed out. Shipshape and Bristol fashion _,_ ”he added, “But only if I can speak with her. Perhaps at dinner.” He thought aloud.

     Dinner came and went without any chance for conversation, as Elsa had a group of advisors that needed to meet with her immediately. She had given the promise of tomorrow morning, before excusing herself from their dinner. As such, Randolph went to bed that night feeling exhausted, anxious, and helpless.

     That night he dreamed of a path winding its way up a mountain. Most of the path was flat, there were only eight actual steps along the path. He looked behind, and saw that he had already ascended two of them, and when he looked ahead, there were six. As he began to walk along the path, it grew longer, so that he never reached the next step, frowning, he stopped to think. As he was thinking, the wind picked up, and the temperature cooled. When he looked up the mountain, he could see an avalanche coming for him. Looking behind, he could see the world splayed out, about to be destroyed by the snow. Rooted, he screamed and was crushed.

 

(-) (-)

 

     The figure crept along the top of the wooden building, watching the person below. In their palm, the figure cupped a small flame, holding it outstretched so that it would not blind them to the darkness. They waited until the person below had crossed the street before making the leap through the cold nights air, gliding through the night without a sound. The figure landed on the next roof and watched as their target entered into the house. The figure smirked. The Councilors had all been offered places to stay in Arendelle Palace, and most had accepted the offer. Only Arnesen had decided to stay at his home, spending his time with family. Most people that were asked had said that he stayed because of his grandchildren. Tonight; however, the rest of the family was gone, staying with another part of the family, down in some tiny village a few kilometers out. The figure had seen to that.

     The Councilor’s house was made entirely of wood, in the old style. That meant that there would be few windows, but according to reports, one had been built into the attic. The figure found it with ease and brought the flame close to the glass, allowing for the flame to turn blue as they sent more energy into it. The pane melted after only a few seconds, and the figure slipped through. Hot materials could still burn them, so they were especially careful to avoid touching the molten glass which now began to drip to the ground below.

     The attic was dark and musty, and the figure needed to take a moment to let their eyes adjust. After that moment they tread over to the trapdoor that was in the floor, which led to the second story. The figure waited there for some time, listening as the old man creaked around his house. Perhaps an hour, perhaps two passed, the figure was not used to spending time waiting for their targets. Nevertheless, the noises eventually ceased, and so they carefully opened the trapdoor and slid down onto the floor below. They had entered into a small hallway, barely able to hold a single person. On one end were stairs to the main level of the house, and on the other end were several doors. Snoring was coming from one, and so the figure crept that way.

     As was expected, Councilor Arnesen was asleep. The figure crept up to him, waiting until they were just next to him. Then they roared, flames spewing forth from their mouth and covering the entire room. The Councilor woke as the flames touched him, and screamed in pain. He tried to rise, but the figure pushed him down, the flames not affecting them as they forced him to the floor and shoved a small table on top of him. He groaned piteously as the flames licked him, melting flesh and bone, catching hair and clothes in their hungry bites. By now the entire room was ablaze, and soon, the rest of the house would follow. The figure calmly  left the way that they came in. They watched the house burn down, careful to push any flames back that were making their way to a neighboring building. When the house was nothing more than ashes, and the Councilor was dead, the figure stole their way back to Arendelle Palace. All throughout, no one had seen them. At least, no one that was still alive.


	8. Revelations

**Chapter Seven: Revelations**

     It was late in the morning when Elsa awoke, having spent most of yesterday in meetings, as well as spending a late night going over economic reports. The normal grace that had somehow protected her, leaving the young queen looking resplendent every morning had left her looking ragged, hair strewn about and eyes drooping. She had a few matters to look into before breakfast, and as she was walking around the castle in a thick robe, it was bound to happen that Anna would stumble upon her, looking much the same as her older sister. However, as Elsa’s look of disrepair was an uncommon occurrence, the princess let out a chuckle at the sight. “I didn’t know this was possible,” Anna said halfway through a chuckle.

     “What,” Elsa asked groggily, her hands full of several documents as well as a cup of tea, which she took a small sip from. It was hot, and thankfully more than capable of waking her up.

     “You are capable of looking disheveled!” Anna exclaimed loudly, and Elsa winced at the level of noise. “I always thought that you would look perfect forever, but no. Not that you don’t look nice, it’s a good kind of disheveled.” Elsa blushed at the compliment. _What?_ Elsa asked herself, _since when have you thought about that? Come to think of it, Anna looks nice as well. No! Do not think of that! You are sisters,_ she reminded herself, and kept her face as calm as she could make it be.

     “Yes,” Elsa murmured softly in response, taking a small sip of tea before continuing. “I hate to be a joy killer, but I need to get to work. Planning on bringing the new Councilor of Economics up to speed today. Get the whole Council problem sorted out. Because of that, I need to get stuff done this morning that I’d normally do in the morning.”

     “I won’t keep you busy then,” Anna said, and began to walk down the hall. “Hope to see you later.” Elsa smiled fondly as she watched her sister walk down the hall, and then turned and walked back to her office. The light that streamed in from the large, open windows nearly blinded her as she strode across the room and set to work.

     Half an hour later, as Elsa was nearing the end of her morning work, a knock came at the door. “Enter,” she called out, and Kai entered the room. “Anything new?” she asked.

     “Yes,” Kai said. “There was a fire late last night that destroyed Councilor Arnesen’s house. At the moment we’re unsure of whether or not he survived."

     Elsa nodded in reply, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible. Worries, fears, and sorrows rushed through her, and despite herself frost began to spread across the desk. “Find him,” she commanded. “If he is not alive, then bring his remains here. Is there anything else that you wish to speak of?”

     “One of the guests, the Lord, I believe, was hoping to speak with you. He said that he would be in the library, when it is convenient for you,” Kai answered. Elsa nodded and set her mind to the frost that was no pulling back after a moment of hard focus.

     “Thank you, Kai. If I have need of you again, you will be told,” she said, and he left quickly, shutting the door behind him as he left. As soon as she was alone, Elsa let herself slump back in her chair. _Damn it, Arnesen,_ she thought, _you were the one I could trust. Don’t leave, not now._ There was no reply to her thoughts, no old, portly man there to give her advice on how to go on now. _I’m on my own,_ she realized, _now I truly have to do this by myself._ Elsa continued to thinking. Her allies were few and far between now. Councilor Erickson was relatively trustworthy, Arnesen had told her that much. Engström, the captain of _Creon_ , had been a stalwart ally of her fathers, as the late king had been the one to give him the position of captain. _Creon_ may have been the second-best ship in Arendelle’s fleet at the time, but thanks to the summer blizzard _Laius_ had been decommissioned. Elsa had left Engström in charge of _Creon_ , and despite his own apprehensions for the new position he was now the captain of the closest thing Arendelle had to a flagship. They were both high up in Arendelle’s politics, but there were still only two of them.

     Besides them, there were still her two creations. Granted, she wasn’t entirely sure who intelligent they were, but she supposed that Olaf and Marshmallow, _Damn Olaf for naming him_ , she thought, could still be of some assistance. Besides them, there was still Kristoff. His title didn’t mean much of anything though, and Elsa had little reason to trust him. _Well,_ she thought, _other than that Anna trusts him._ And then there was Anna, who Elsa couldn’t even think about without feeling both elate and like she had done something horrible. No, Anna wouldn’t be a source of help now, at least not until Elsa had gotten herself under control. At this moment, though, none of them would be any help.

_The Council won’t be meeting today,_ she thought, _not while one of them is missing, potentially even dead. Don’t think that,_ she told herself, _he is not dead, he cannot be dead._ She took another sip of her tea. _Still, you can use this time to your advantage. Get rid of one problem while the other is delayed. Arnesen will agree with this use of your time._

     The library was a quite place, as it usually was on most days. Elsa had rarely been there throughout her years, but often had books brought up from the library to read in her room. She recognized several titles as she walked past the long rows of shelves, looking for the Englishman. _A Treatise of Human Nature_ had been one of her frequent reads, and one whose ideas she found to have influenced her own over time. A few rows over she found Descarte, and promptly continued moving along. Moving into the rows of books that were written in other alphabets, as she had yet to find the man she was looking for, she stopped for a moment to pull out a book that used the Cyrillic alphabet. Taking a moment to determine what language, and after internally translating the title from Russian, she put it back on the shelf, disinterested in reading about the farming techniques that were advertised in the title. She finally found Lord Randolph in the small section of the library that was devoted to books written in Devanagari. He was asleep, head lying on a book and arms splayed along the desk he was occupying. Elsa thought for half a moment about dropping a pile of snow on his head before rational thinking took over, and she firmly cleared her throat, not fully expecting the notion to change anything. At best, she expected it to wake him up slightly before she went to drop the temperature in the room.

     She was quickly proven wrong as Randolph Dabney shot up in the chair, all but screaming in panic, “I’m up! I’m up!” Then, after a moment of realizing where he was, he groaned and let his head fall back into the book. “Sorry about that,” he said, or at least that was what Elsa thought that it sounded like. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. Started thinking about some things, and then I needed to know the answers, and so I came down to the library, and then I found the stuff, and then I kept on reading, and then I told the nice man to send for you, and then I woke up.” Elsa wasn’t entirely sure how it was possible that he could talk quickly, and into a book of all things, but still make it sound completely understandable, but somehow it was a skill of his.

     “Perhaps less rambling, and more succinctness,” Elsa suggested, and he shrugged into the book. Finally, he pulled himself up and looked at her. There were heavy bags underneath of his eyes, which in an of themselves looked dull. He nodded slightly before pulling his hands through his messy black hair. Looking at them, Elsa saw that his hands were both heavily scarred, though from what she couldn’t say. “What was it that you were looking for?” she asked him after he had finished taming his hair.

     “I had been thinking last night, and I started reading a lot of old stories that talk about people who have magic. I noticed that a lot of these stories will tell you where these people have gotten their magic from, but it isn’t the same with you. So, I got curious, and I started reading through a bunch of the old books here. I think that I can say, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that I know how you got your magical powers. While I can’t say for certain, it does seem rather likely, and…” he continued on, but Elsa had ceased listening. _An origin,_ she thought, _I need to know this._

     “What can you tell me?” she began, pulling a chair over from a nearby desk, “And why were you so interested in this anyways? I thought that you were just supposed to determine if I was a threat.”

     “Well, that is my job,” Lord Randolph admitted, “But I got curious, and when I don’t know the answer to something, or I just don’t know something, then I want to learn it. This seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. And what I found, I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you. I wish that I could, but I can’t. Not here in the castle at least. But there’s a village about half a day’s journey from here, and I can show you there. If my theory is right, that is.”

_Well,_ Elsa thought, _you did say that you could miss a day._ “Alright,” she said. “I’ll arrange for a group to travel there.”

     “No,” he began, “You misunderstood. I don’t feel comfortable with telling anyone but you about this. The journey has to be just the two of us.” He looked hesitant, and he continued, “I know what it sounds like, but believe me, I have no reason to want harm to you.”

_Elsa, you cannot trust him,_ she told herself. _On the other hand,_ she thought, _I don’t need to trust him. If he becomes a problem, I can kill him. Not to mention that I can have a tail._ “Very well,” she said, shaking the hand that he offered. “Meet me in the grounds in an hour. Bring anything that you’ll need. We will travel on horseback.” She then left him to clean up the desk he had been using, still having some reservations about what she was doing.

     As it turned out, Anna had just as many reservations. Not to mention that she felt much more freely when it came to vocalizing her disagreements. “Are you crazy?” her younger sister had said. “After what happened, do you think I’m going to let you leave the same building as me?”

     “Yes,” Elsa said firmly, as they entered the courtyard of the palace, Elsa securing her riding cloak on as she spoke. “I need you to remain here while I’m gone. I’m naming you regent until I return, and I need someone back in the capital that I can trust. Besides, I’m having Kristoff follow the two of us, out of sight. If anything happens, he will come straight back and inform you.” Anna looked down at the ground, and Elsa felt her heart sink. “Anna, I need to do this.”

     “Why?” was the only response that she got.

     “Closure,” Elsa answered. “I need to have some answers to the questions, even if I don’t like them. And I need you to stay here, because I know that you can keep everything in order.”

     “Alright,” Anna said, pulling her sister into a hug. Elsa let out a smile, feeling the happiest she had in some time. _You shouldn’t feel that,_ she could hear a voice saying, but she ignored it. “I love you.”

     “The same,” Elsa said, not wanting to say any more in case she made a scene. Anna had watched as they left, Elsa noticed, staying outside until the duo were well beyond the gates. For several hours they rode, first through the capital, then out into the countryside, moving to the southeast almost immediately, along a pass through the mountains. Several miles to the north, Elsa could see the castle that she had built, sunlight glinting off of its icy walls. Lord Randolph noticed as well, and asked her if she had created it. When she answered that she had, he nodded, though he seemed less comfortable after learning about that. “So where are we heading?” Elsa asked him after they had nearly finished traversing the pass, heading into a large valley.

     “There,” Lord Randolph answered, and pointed to the north. Her gaze followed, coming upon a large lake near the northern edge of the valley. She could barely make out a small town on the lake’s edge, a series of wooden buildings. “That village is where your powers come from, I think. And that’s why I wanted to wait until we were alone before I spoke. Well, at least that I wanted to wait until I knew that we were alone. I work for a group of magic users, called the Guild.”

     “What?!” Elsa replied in a loud voice, almost yelling. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

     “Like I said,” Randolph answered. “I didn’t know if anyone was listening. We’ve managed to keep magic from the general public for generations now, and I wanted to keep it that way. You were the first case that went this, well, big. We weren’t able to find you, we hadn’t known about your powers. Normally, a representative of the Guild would have taught you to control your powers when you were younger. But now, it’s important that you learn to control them, and that the rest of us aren’t discovered. Magic users would become a commodity if their existence was to be made public. You know how England is reacting to just one, and not even a fully trained magic user.”

     “I’m, I’m not alone,” was all that Elsa could get out. “How many others are there.”

     “Somewhere over a hundred-and-forty-thousand,” Lord Randolph answered. “Only a twelfth of them ever manifest their powers. Most people go unnoticed their entire lives. We have a catalogue put together of the thirteen-thousand or so whose powers manifest.”

     Unsure of what to say, she asked. “How is the lake involved?”

     “We know where all magic comes from,” Lord Randolph answered. “Hundreds of years ago, the earth was struck by the fragments of a small object. Metallic, coming from somewhere else, that’s all we know about it. It fragmented, or was a cloud, we aren’t sure. All we know is that hundreds of years ago the pieces fell on the earth, like a drop of sunlight touching the earth. The pieces affected things near them, such as giving magical abilities to those that had touched them. The Guild was formed to bring all of the fragments together, and to catalogue all of those with powers. Magic travels down family trees, waxing and waning from time to time, but there has never been a person with magical potential in Arendelle’s family lineage. But the people of this village, they have several people of magical potential living there. A fragment dropped into the lake, and since then there have been several people who could control ice and snow that have been born here.”

     “You’re saying that I’m not my parent’s child,” Elsa said, understanding flooding her.

     “That would appear to be the case.” Lord Randolph said. “Shall we go on to the village?”

     “No,” Elsa answered, anger growing inside of her stomach. _Why didn’t they tell me? Was I just a commodity to them, a tool to be put on the throne._ The temperature began to drop quickly. _How could they!_ The horse underneath of her bolted, and she was thrown off, falling into a pile of snow. She slowly stood, looking around. The wind whipped around her, and snow was falling in thick, heavy pieces. After a moment of focusing, it began to die down. Lord Randolph had also fallen from his horse, which had run alongside hers down the path. As he rose he began to spit snow out of his mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to loose control.” She sank to her knees. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”

     “Elsa?” a voice called out, and she looked up. “Who is that?” She followed Lord Randolph’s gaze, and cursed. Kristoff was already heading back down the path, on Sven, but he had been seen. “You couldn’t trust me,” he said, the hurt evident in his voice.

     “You can’t blame me,” she began. “You don’t know what this is like.”

     “Really? I don’t know what this is like. I spend my time making sure that accidents like yours don’t happen.”

     “How dare you,” she began, only to stop as he pulled a silver-looking gauntlet out of his bag. “What is that?”

     “Your gloves were a placebo, they would never actually halt your powers. These will.”

     “You wouldn’t dare,” she snarled, the temperature dropping once again. The snow began to fall once more, very heavily this time. She could feel ice growing on her arms, and this time, she let it.

     “If you can’t control yourself, then yes,” came the answer, somewhere in front of her, as Lord Randolph had been lost now in the snow. “I don’t want to, but until you learn control. I understand that this is hard, believe me.”

     “No, you don’t!” Elsa screamed at him, unable to handle the pressure any more. She let her anger out, and could feel a gust of air slam outward. There was a cry in front of her, and she let the snow settle so she could see.

     In front of her, Lord Randolph was climbing out of a pile of snow. The gauntlet lay several feet away from him, and Elsa crushed it in between several pieces of ice, letting the metal twist and scrunch. It felt satisfying, and she grinned slightly. She then turned her attention to the Lord, who was rushing forward, a desperate look in his eyes, the same look of fear and desperation that Hans had when Anna had unfrozen. For a moment, the two men became the same being, and Elsa lashed out. The snow turned into ice where he was running, and he was stuck in place. “Elsa, don’t!” He cried out, but she wasn’t listening. More ice grew, up his legs and spreading across his entire body, jagged pieces thrusting out of the ground and keeping him in place.

     “You do not know what it feels like!” Elsa screamed out as two pieces of ice pushed up against his neck, forcing his head in place. “To be hated, to be feared! To hate yourself!” He tried to say something, but when he opened his mouth, ice forced its way in. After a moment, she let go of the magic, and looked at the pyramid of ice that was standing where the human had once been. She looked around, unsure of what to do. Worry flooded her, followed by doubt, then shame. Then she heard the noise, high pitched, and almost like a roar, coming from behind her. Elsa turned.

     The top of the pyramid that Lord Randolph had been imprisoned in was glowing an orange-red color. _What?_ She thought, then realized, _of course. Elsa, you idiot, he can also use—_ her thoughts were cut off when the top of the pyramid broke apart into splinters, a gout of flame trailing up into the air. A moment later Lord Randolph leapt out of the icy prison, sliding down its side before landing on the ground. His eyes seemed as calm and rational as they had been before, but Elsa was unable to speak to him, as the second he landed on the ground he raised a hand. Flames sprouted from the air, twisted at his command, and finally coalesced into a sphere. Elsa clenched her hands into fists, ready to block whatever attacks was coming.  A moment later he leapt forward, and the fire flew towards Elsa. She raised her arms, and ice grew to block the flames. Fire and ice danced in her vision, and the smell of ozone filled the air. A roaring sound enveloped the mountainside, and then there was silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once, I've got nothing else to say. Feel free to leave comments, as always.


	9. A Step Amongst Sirens

**Chapter Eight: A Step Amongst Sirens**

     A cold, salty breeze brushed against Anna’s face, tearing a few hairs out of place. She took a moment to push it brush it away, tucking the strand back behind her head, and looked out at the crowd. A collection of people, some twenty or so, had crowded into the palace’s courtyard. Anna had promised them that she would hold court in her sister’s place, and after attaining a small group of guards, she had joined them on the court grounds.

     Two guards were situated on her sides, clad in the purple and crimson garb of the royal guard, sheathed swords hanging from their belts. There were a few other guards around the square, most of the others holding rifles instead of wearing swords. Peter, the captain of the guard, explained that the ones protecting her would likely be surged by a mob if anything went wrong. A rifle would be shot once and then useless for the immediate future, where as a sword could be used as often as was required during a single fight. Anna let him create the guard detail before setting out. Looking out in front of her, Anna was glad that she had accepted the offer, despite her reluctance to do so at first.

     Today she was seeing those who had travelled from the furthest villages out, the ones that were barely held within Arendelle’s borders. They had never seen the queen before, and were clearly displeased that she was gone on the day when they were to have met her, especially since the change had been of such a short notice. Anna hid her grimace, thinking, _no wonder Elsa tries to hold court as irregularly as possible._ Her sister had told her that the people would love her, that they would be more than happy to have the far more cheerful princess to great them than the stoic queen that had left. _So far you’ve proven to be wrong,_ Anna thought at Elsa, _I forgive you for that, but you’d better make this up for me._ Thinking of Elsa flushed her face with heat, and she tried to calm herself. _Don’t think about her like that,_ Anna reprimanded herself.

     Anna forced herself to smile, hoping that it would take away the edge of hostility that those in front of her were presenting. Despite her efforts, their collective faces remained still, though a few of them softened their glances for the moment. Anna considered it to be a minor success, before she addressed the first people in the line.

     A large portion of those who had sought audience today were farmers from some of the outlying villages who claimed that their crops had been damaged by the cold, and demanded recompense. Anna promised to give them an answer, and quickly left to speak with Councilor Steensen. There had been few farms that were severely damaged by the snowfall that were as far out as those that the people were from. _Probably lying in order to get some money,_ Anna thought to herself, _still, better that we not make them angry. One person can always be the one to end everything._ Hans had been one person, one person with the guile and charisma necessary to nearly kill her. _Never trust the stranger,_ Anna told herself, the same phrase that she had repeated several times since the freeze. _Only trust those you know. Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, Elsa—no, don’t think about her now._ When she returned to the farmers, she gave them her answer. “A government representative will tell us what the damages will likely be worth,” she had told them, trying to keep her voice calm and powerful, just like how Elsa always managed to. “We will make sure that any damage caused by the queen’s accident will be compensated for.” They looked unhappy, but were courteous and thanked her for promising to look into the matter. _It isn’t what they wanted,_ she reasoned, _but it was better than nothing, and they’re happy for that._ The thought that she had helped them in some way, however small, brought a faint smile to her lips.

     Unfortunately, the smile was immediately robbed by the next group of people that came up to her. Unlike the eight that had just left, the new trio of people had come clearly prepared to be antagonistic. “Princess, and regent, Anna,” the first one said after they all bowed. “We implore you to arrest your sister on grounds of witchcraft and sorcery. Her actions are clearly against nature, and we ask for you to rid this land of her. She is a blight against Arendelle, a foul curse upon this nation, and if Arendelle is to recover, she cannot be allowed to remain.”

     Anna stiffened at the request, glad that Elsa had not been here to greet them. As much as Anna would have liked it, she doubted that her sister would be able to handle it any better, not to mention that they would have likely been subtler if they had faced Elsa. _Go ahead, show your hand._ “I find no reason to usurp the Queen,” Anna began, staring coldly at the head of the trio. “And I would hope that your opinion changes in the near future. I trust that you can find your way out.” They left angrily, muttering under their breath, and Anna glared at them as they left.

     The next groups had simple matters, but after dealing with them all Anna wanted to do was find the spokesman of the trio and punch him. Preferably in such a manner that it took him a while to get back up from off of the ground. Instead she settled for merely punching the palm of her other hand. After a few more minutes of deciding upon matters, she excused herself so that she could actually do something cathartic.

     Since the freeze, Anna had begun to train in self-defense, reasoning that she had best be prepared in case such a matter arose again. Not to mention that satisfaction she would have felt had she gone further than just punching Hans. To that end, after a moment to change out of her gown and put on something more conducive, she joined the small group of guards that lived in the palace in the training yard. Most of them were practicing with rifles, either shooting them or learning and practicing how to dismantle them and reload them.

     Up until recently, as Anna had learned some time ago, Arendelle had used crossbows instead of firearms, a trait shared by the militaries of some other small countries, such as Weselton and Corona. Their economies simply weren’t large enough to justify the expenditures of firearms, especially when there was little chance for them to go to war. Under their grandfather’s reign, however, the nation had provoked the ire of Verington, a slightly larger nation to the southwest of Arendelle, along the Baltic Sea. Her grandfather had passed away only a few months before the official declaration of war, opening up the chance for Anna’s father to change the situation when it came to guns. With their new weapons, they were able to defeat Verington, and secure a lasting peace with the country.

     Anna took her place opposite Duncan, their captain of the guard, and the one who trained her in swordplay. For the same reasons why her guards used them instead of firearms, Anna had decided to learn how to use a sword first. As normal, they fought for near half an hour before taking a substantial break, letting their practice swords ring loudly through the air. Anna was nowhere near as strong as Duncan, but had proven to be quicker and more agile than the large man, often getting behind him or to his side and able to get off one or two strikes before he could turn to face her again. _I wonder if he only does this to take me easily while I’m learning,_ Anna thought to herself, and then asked it out loud halfway through their spar.

     From that point on he seemed to move more quickly, and countered many more of her blows. She grinned wickedly as he sped up, even as she was caught on the hip and side by two blows that would assuredly bruise. _Now you’re actually fighting._ By the end of their spar she was aching from blows that had rained down on all parts, rubbing a shoulder that had gone numb from a well timed strike. Still, Duncan was walking with a slight limp after she had struck him fiercely on the inside of his right leg, and he was bleeding from one of his fingers. When she asked him if he was alright, he laughed off her concerns and told her to worry about herself. After that he called a swift break for the two of them, while he spoke with one of his lieutenants.

     “Princess Anna,” a voice called out, causing Anna to look up from where she was sitting. Councilor Hummel, the old, small man with the graying beard walked over from the open doorway that led into the palace proper. “May I speak with you for a moment?”

     “Of course,” Anna replied, waving the councilor to sit next to her. Looking over to a guard, she requested some water, as her throat was parched, then shifted her attention back to the councilor that was sitting down next to her. “What is it?”

     “I would have spoken to your sister about the issue, but as she is gone, I decided to tell you. Councilor Arnesen’s remains were found in the wreckage of his home.” Anna nodded, having expected it. Elsa had remained optimistic that the man would have somehow survived the ruin of his home, but Anna doubted that was the case. _How is it that I’m now the colder sibling,_ she wondered, and took a moment as she coughed. _The new medicine isn’t helping me much._ Once she had succumbed to a coughing fight during the middle of a spar, and Duncan had refused to end then, instead trying to teach her how to fight through one. They were debilitating, distracting, and every time that one happened Anna couldn’t help but remember the freeze. _Perhaps that’s how,_ she thought to herself.

     “Alright,” Anna said, keeping her feelings bottled up in the meantime. She hadn’t known the councilor that well, instead having grown up with Kai and Gerda. Arnesen had been Elsa’s tutor and mentor as opposed to Anna’s. _Still, he was a friend of Elsa’s, so he was a friend of mine._ The thought did little to make her feel sullen. “I suppose that you have ideas for the next councilor of internal relations.” She imagined that Elsa would have used this opportunity to put someone that she could trust on the council, but Anna lacked that particular aspect of authority. In times of regency, the council decided it’s own matters. _Elsa will need to change that particular rule when she returns._

     “Yes, I have, as have the other councilors,” Councilor Hummel answered. “Not to mention that he has already been sworn in.”

     “Excellent,” Anna said. “Who is—Kristoff, what are you doing here?” Anna changed her first question into a second one as she saw the man rushing towards her.

     “Anna,” he began, stopping to catch his breath before continuing. “Your sister and the English guy, whatever his name is, they got into an argument and Elsa started a storm. I think that they were going to fight.”

     “Thank you Kristoff. Does anyone else know about this?”

     “The other Englishmen, I told him when he asked me.”

     A grimace crossed Anna’s face. “Damn it. Hummel, I need for you to talk with him, convince him to not do anything rash. I’ll go out and get Elsa, make sure that nothing happens. Kristoff, come with me.” Anna stood quickly, grabbing an actual sword that was laying on a table nearby. It was longer than that which she was used to, and more heavy, but she was loath to go into a potential battle without some sort of weapon. She began to walk away from Kristoff and Hummel, towards where she last knew Olaf had been. _A poor regent, but one that will have to do._ She hoped that Kristoff would follow her, but she was unsure. Then, after a moment, she heard the sounds of clamor from behind her. She spun around, to find Kristoff held in Hummel’s grip. Anna rushed forward, just as Hummel smashed the butt of a pistol into the blonde’s head. Kristoff crumpled to the ground, and Anna leapt at his attacker, sword singing through the air. Hummel moved surprisingly quickly, however, and the blow went through empty air. As Anna slowed her movement, she watched around the grounds, quickly surveying. Most of the soldiers were busy apprehending others, keeping the loyal ones from interfering. Duncan came roaring at them, swinging a gun as if it was a club over his head. He managed to bring down two before he was brought down by rifle fire, falling to the ground in a puff of smoke. Then Anna felt a touch of steel on her shoulder, and she spun around, quickly whipping her blade to knock away the sword that was on her shoulder. “You!” she growled.

     “Hello, Anna,” the figure replied in an almost cheerful manner. _This time I’ll kill you, and I'm sure I’ll enjoy it._ She raised her sword, and he backed away, raising his hands in mock offense. “Please, Anna. I could have you down in three moves, so let’s not do this.”

     “One,” Anna replied, striking forward with her sword. He brought his up in a defensive parry, sending away the blow. “Two.” Anna twisted her sword and ran it along his blade, sending all her strength into the blow. His arm was wrenched away from his chest, and in that moment he realized he was doomed. “Three!” Anna screamed as she pushed forwards, her sword pointed straight at his uniformed chest. The front pushed in, and she felt cloth and flesh give way. Then she heard the sound of a gunshot, and fell still.

     The first thing she noticed was the pain that went through her side. Anna looked down, and saw crimson streaking along her abdomen, spreading across her clothing like spider webs. Her legs stung, she felt like she was about to throw up, and in fatigue, she fell to the ground. The opponent in front of her smirked before striking her with the pommel of his sword, and Anna collapsed on the ground. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the gloating face of the youngest prince of the Southern Isles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't quite sure whether or not Hans should make an appearance here or later on in the fic (I knew he would be involved, I just wasn't sure how soon he should make his appearance). I really hope that I made the right choice, so if people could comment on whether or not I should have waited, that would be great (I obviously can't fix the mistake now, but for next time, it will be better).  
> Thanks for reading.


	10. We All Start Somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a while to get this one out. In other news, a big thanks to Song of the Era 17 for beta-ing this chapter.

**Chapter Nine: We All Start Somewhere**

_Damn it, Randolph,_ he thought to himself as he watched jagged ice grow around him, _you just had to put it that way. There were so many better ways to say it, but you couldn’t just use one of those, you had to say the exact wrong thing._ He opened his mouth to call out, but ice invaded it, stopping just as it reached his tongue. He supposed that he was lucky that the ice had stopped before it reached the back of his throat, or further. As the cold crept up around him, Randolph closed his eyes, so that they would not freeze. He felt snow and ice all over his body, on his eyelids, crushing his hair, trying to grip their way under his fingernails. _Let the energy flow,_ he thought, and did so. From the bottom of his stomach, he could feel the energy, and after a moment, let it pour up into his heart. From there it flowed through his blood, and he directed it to one of his eyes. A moment later he felt the ice melting on his right eye, and he opened it, seeing darkened ice all around him. In a few places the light shone through the cracks of cold, but those were vanishing quickly. _At least Elsa won’t be able to see this,_ he grimaced as he let the energy flow all across his body, melting the ice that covered him into water. He choked slightly as the ice in his throat melted, and spat the melt water back up.

 _What now,_ Randolph thought to himself as he fell back against one of the walls of his icy prison. _She won’t likely listen to me now, and I can’t trust her to keep the façade._ He sighed and took a moment to breath in deeply, and let the breath out. _Definitely don’t kill her, that’s the obvious. Subdue her,_ he decided. _I can determine the next step from there._ Now armed with a plan, Lord Randolph looked up. The icy prison’s ceiling, if one could call it that, was roughly formed, full of jagged edges and sharp points. _She fights in an unrefined manner, just like I used to. If I’m going to be fighting a younger version of myself, this might be even easier._ He let the energy that was built up in his stomach forth in a roar, flames blasting forth from his mouth and slamming into the ice above him. There was a rush of gas, and water droplets fell on Randolph’s skin, but he was free. With a blast of flames, he launched himself clear of the icy prison, landing on one of its sides and sliding down.

     Perhaps ten meters away from him, Elsa was standing there, a look of surprise on her face. Hoping to capitalize, Randolph whipped his hand back, letting the energy flow out of it naturally. He had once created flames with jabs and kicks, and before that just by glaring at whatever he had wanted to burn. Both methods proved inefficient, surprisingly, the best technique he had found was to move as if one was water, flowing through the air, letting the flames ripple out naturally. He then coalesced them into a ball and sent the inferno straight at Elsa, hoping to gauge her reaction. As he had expected, and hoped, she raised her hands, which were clenched, into the air, creating a large shield of ice that spanned across several meters and rose far above her head. _Impressive,_ Randolph thought, having to admire the creation, _but inefficient._ He let the flames rise above the icy barriers, and only some of it struck the ice. _You won’t be able to keep that up forever. I just need to keep you on the defensive._ Randolph moved his hands to the sides, and the flames followed his motions, coming at Elsa from her flanks. Once again, she created thick icy walls around herself, blocking off any attacks that he could make. Satisfied for the moment, Randolph let his arms drop, and the flames dissipated. He smiled as he watched the small embers drift through the wind, vanishing without the fuel to stay alive.

_Letting the flames vanish was one of the hardest tasks that Randolph had taken up. Creating a fire was easy for him, as was blasting it across the clearing where he was working. Looking at the flame in front of him now, though, it felt as if he was about to kill a part of himself. His teacher, an older man that had told Randolph to call him Vinay, though most others called him Mitra, had often given advice to Randolph that had helped him through the difficult times in their training. He had been with his teacher since he was seven years old, and the older man was like a substitute for his parents. He had last seen his father when he was six, his mother when he was eight. Over time, he had learned to trust what Vinay had taught him. Even when it hadn’t always made the most sense to him at the time._

_“Your connection to fire does not define you,” Vinay told Randolph from where he was sitting, a distance away, underneath of the roof of the small home that they shared. It was far off from the rest of the town, nestled on the banks of the Gomati River. Hoping to take his mind off of the task at hand, Randolph looked over at the river and watched the current. Then, after a moment of calming himself, Randolph turned back to the flame. “Do not think of yourself as the flame, and do not think of the flame as you. Let it go.” Randolph frowned. It was easy for Vinay to say that, the oldest of a family that had turned away from that life to become a monk. He looked over to his mentor, who had closed his eyes and resumed his meditation. Vinay didn’t understand what it was like to be the younger child, to only be recognized because you could control fire. That was why he was with Vinay, to hone this gift, the one thing that could make him unique, that could make him special._

_As if he could read Randolph’s thoughts, Vinay stood up. “I understand what it feels like,” the man said as he pulled himself out of the full lotus position he had been in, the one that Randolph had always tried to put himself into but had never been able to. Vinay raised a hand, and a flame burst out of it. Surprised, Randolph fell back against the ground. “You can feel the flame, you can feel its warmth,” Vinay said, letting the flame roll between his fingers. “But never forget that it doesn’t live. Sometimes, it can be just as important to put out fires as it is to create them. Otherwise, the flame can consume you, and control you.” With a swipe of his hand, Vinay destroyed the flame that had been coiled around his arm. “Remember who you are, Randolph,” Vinay said, and Randolph returned his focus to the flame. Randolph was used to being the silent one of the two of them, normally listening and absorbing what Vinay was saying without ever repeating it or confirming that he had heard it. “You are the boy that tried to read in a language he had never seen before, just to see if he could. You are the one that can be serious and joyous at the same time, the one who can be blind and yet see.” He smiled. The last one was something that Randolph himself had come up with, imitating one of Vinay’s saying. The monk had taken a liking to it, and had often said it around Randolph, for one reason or another._

_“We must all start somewhere, Randolph,” Vinay concluded. “But don’t let it ever be the place where you end. You started with fire, and so you must not end there.” Randolph nodded, having focused on the fire the entire time, trying to put it out. It was difficult, until Vinay spoke once again. “Do not linger on the fire. Let it go, and it shall let you go.” With that, Randolph let his mind go blank, and he stopped focusing on the fire. Within a few moments, it had gone out completely, dwindled to nothing in the brazier that had contained it. “Very good,” Vinay said, and Randolph let out a sigh of relief. Years later, he would have wondered if, had he not sighed then, he would have heard Vinay conclude with the words, “my son.”_

     The memories ended for Randolph after only a moment, and he forced himself back into the present. Elsa was still inside of her shield of ice, but he wondered how long it would be until she decided to emerge from it. As he swiftly learned, the wait was quite short, much shorter than Randolph had thought it would have been. The ice in front of him fractured apart and Elsa leapt through. He could see her raise her hands, and a large piece of ice rose from the ground, attempting to slam into his chest. _Keep on using the larger moves, Elsa,_ he mentally goaded her. _It will only help me in the end._ He moved around the chunk of ice, his movements as fluid as water, and with the same motion took a step towards Elsa. She sent another chunk of ice at him, followed by another. He sidestepped the first projectile and leapt over the second, tumbling down the smooth upper side of it and emerging in a run. As he approached, Elsa waved her hand in a single motion, spreading magic across the entire arc he was approaching from. Not wanting to be hit no matter what, he let fire out of his feet again, flipping over whatever she had tried to hit him with. _Probably cold air,_ he thought to himself. As he was above her, he slipped a finger into his scarf and unwrapped it, pulling the length of silk into his hands. He landed opposite of her and nearly slipped on a stretch of ice, but a blast of fire righted him. Then he turned to face Elsa.

     She had turned as well to face him, lashing out with a fist full of magic. Randolph ducked underneath of it and wrapped her arm in the scarf’s length, pulling her arm behind her. As Elsa reached with her second arm it was entangled in the silk as well, and then Randolph, who was now behind her, kicked her legs out from under her. She landed on her back, her hands between her body and the ground, tied up. “Are you going to listen to me now?” Randolph asked her, and she responded by blowing on him. Of course, Randolph should have expected that this would send a gust of cold air straight into his chest, but at the moment he hadn’t considered the possibility. “I’ll take that as a no,” Randolph muttered as he pulled himself out of the snow, nearly slipping on a piece of ice.

     Elsa was rising up as well, having managed to easily pull the scarf off, and glared at him. “You can’t imagine what it’s like!” _Ignore it, don’t get mad,_ he had to tell himself. She thrust out an arm at him, sending a huge piece of ice at him. For once, he countered directly, raising his arms and letting a huge gout of flames spread out, melting the ice as it came close to him. He could feel water splashing against his clothes, which were buffeted by the wind she was creating, as well as on his face. After a moment, the wind ceased, and Randolph let the fire disappear. Elsa was staggering, likely in exhaustion, and for once, Randolph was willing to capitalize on that disadvantage. He raised an arm and sent a burst of flames at her. _Maybe this time we can end this,_ he hoped, though he kept the thought to himself. Once again, Elsa created a barrier out of ice, but this time, Randolph kept the flames moving in the same direction. They struck the ice, and Randolph focused them in to a single point. Slowly, ever slowly, he could feel the ice melting.

_“Let yourself into the flames,” Vinay told Randolph, who looked up at the man with confusion._

_The nine year old had to resist the urge to pout, and replied with some hesitation. “I don’t understand.”_

_“What don’t you understand?” Vinay asked, and he leaned closer, so that he could more clearly see the flame that Randolph was cupping in his hand. Their earliest lessons had been learning to control the flames, to create them and cup them in a hand, to keep them from spilling out. At first, Randolph had regularly scorched the walls of the temple where they were staying, especially after his mother had returned to England, promising to see him soon. She came back almost a year later, to keep her promise. It had made Randolph happy to see her again, and the way she looked at him after he had shown her what he could do had made him even happier. At home, though he knew she had been proud, there was always a sense of worry, he knew that much. Here though, the opposite was almost true. He still was barred from using his magic around most others, but he was actually training with it._

_“What do you mean by feeling it?” Randolph asked his teacher, looking up at him with curious eyes._

_“You create the flames,” Vinay answered. “The energy comes from your gut, flows into your heart, and then out through your body. You have a tie with the fire, that much is true. Therefore, you should be able to feel it.”_

_“Okay,” Randolph replied, scrunching his face into a tight ball and gazing at the flames. Then he let out a groan. “Nothing happened!”_

_“A scrunched face does not always result in work,” Vinay said, scrunching up his face in an imitation of his student. Randolph laughed at this. “As you can see, I’m not doing anything.” He let his face relax then, and breathed in, then out. “Just feel it, don’t force on it.”_

_Randolph nodded, and breathed in, and then out. Then he reached out with his mind, feeling the tendril of energy that connected from his hand to the fire. “I feel it,” he exclaimed happily. “It feels weird.”_

_“Think of it like how a blind man sees,” Vinay replied. “At first, they don’t know what each thing they touch is. But when they learn it, they will never forget it. And in time, just by touching something, they can know what it is.” Randolph, at that age, had never bothered to wonder how his teacher knew so much about magic._

     Randolph could feel the ice melting underneath of his power. Slowly, he fed slivers of flame into the icy shield that Elsa had made, melting cracks in it and creating a spider’s web of pathways through it. _Can she feel her ice,_ Randolph wondered, then pushed the idea out of his mind. _She hasn’t had the experience._ As he continued to melt the ice, he felt the liquid water heating, turning into gas. With some difficulty, he held it in, forcing it to remain in the same place as the amount continued to build. With more and more of it in the same space, with the same temperature, the pressure would be building. He held on for a minute longer, then let go of the steam. The ice wall broke, exploding into thousands of fragments, mostly on Elsa’s side, though he had to melt a few stray shards before they came near him. As he walked over, he could see the queen of Arendelle lying in the snow, most likely unconscious. He approached slowly, relaxing his guard. “You’re strong,” he admitted. “With the amount of training you’ve gotten, considering what you’ve done, you’re much stronger than me. But have you had the experience, the training? I didn’t think so.” He was now standing over her, looking down at the prone form in the snow. _Time to have a talk._

     He was surprised when she raised her head from the snow. She coughed up something that looked suspiciously like a tooth, and then glared at Randolph. _You’re beat,_ he thought, _just give up now so this doesn’t have to go to extreme levels._ Once again, however, she surprised him.

     With a single movement she stepped forward, pushing off of the ground. Underneath of one of her feet he could see a shaped step of ice that she pushed off of. _She planned this,_ Randolph realized, a moment too late. A pillar of ice slammed into his chest, sending him flying through the air. For a moment he thought that he could maybe create a burst of flames to guide himself down, but then he felt cold air slam against his back, forcing him down. The ground rushed up to meet him, and a moment later there was nothing.


	11. Hypothermia

**Chapter Ten: Hypothermia**

     Peak had been on the docks when he had heard the news about the queen’s outburst. He had been discussing matters with his second in command when a young man riding a reindeer had tried to rush past them, heading straight for the docks. It was a queer enough sight that Peak had to ask the boy a few questions. And from that, he had determined that the queen was exactly the danger that he had feared she was. _Remember to stay alive, Lord Randolph,_ Peak bitterly thought as he strapped his saber to his side.

     “Are you sure you’ll be needing these, cap’n?” his first mate asked as he handed over two pistols. Peak holstered one on his hip and slid the second into a bandolier that he had hidden underneath of his coat. Two shots, in case things went horribly wrong. _I had better not need this._

     “A precaution,” Peak muttered to himself. “If I’m find swinging from a gallow, then put _Lord Clint_ out to sea, and back to England. I won’t see any of you harmed for me.”

     “But if ya—” the first mate began, but Peak waved his reply off.

     “That’s an order, Mr. Sparrow. I don’t want anyone dying for me. That would simply be pointless.” After a moment, his first mate nodded and walked back across the gangplank. “You have the deck, Mr. Sparrow.” Captain Peak called out to the other man before walking away. Then, sighing, he began to move towards the palace. There had been commotions all through the morning, Peak had noticed, as the amount of guards out on the streets had multiplied at an alarming rate. There was a general tenseness in the air, an ill feeling that Peak couldn’t dispel. The sound of gunshots could be heard from inside of the palace, but they could be heard often in the mornings of most military training ranges, and he put the thought out of his mind. Whatever was going on this morning was of no concern to him. _What is of concern is Lord Randolph’s safety,_ he thought. _The princess had best have answers for this._

     Peak found that there was already a crowd in the palace’s courtyard, held in by guards posted around the edges. High up, on a balcony over the crowd, stood a collection of people. Peak entered the crowd, unsure of what was going on. For a few minutes there was only the sound of people milling about, speaking to those near them. Peak caught a few words, but those he did hear and translate gave too little for him to understand what was being said. _They could have sent a captain who was fluent in Norwegian,_ Peak thought. _That would likely be more helpful here than I am._

     After those few minutes, however, the people on the balcony turned to face the crowd, having finished the conversation. One of them stepped forward, and began to speak, first in Norwegian, and then, thankfully, in English. Peak translated some of the Norwegian and determined that the two things that the man were speaking were the same.

     “People of Arendelle, there is gruesome news,” the figure said, and the masses quieted. “The beloved Princess Anna was found dead today, burned to death in her chambers.” _What?_ Peak asked himself, and looked around him. Most of the people were too stunned to be able to say anything, though many looked morose. A few began to look down. Peak noticed that a few of them cursed. “Until such a time as Queen Elsa returns to her throne, then we, the Council of Arendelle, shall lead the country. We ask that everyone remain calm, and that…” he continued on speaking, though Peak no longer paid him any attention.

 _What the hell do I do now?_ Peak asked himself, before turning and leaving from the grounds. _I need to think, I need silence._ He found such silence sitting on the rail of the bridge that travelled to the rest of the city from the palace. A clean, crisp breeze went through the air. _What do I do?_ He could return to England, but then what? Randolph would be dead, he may already be dead if the queen had turned her anger on him. Peak had been against the decision for the two of them to go alone, but the young lord had overruled him. _Did you know that the decision would cost you your life?_ Peak asked, hoping to receive some sort of response. As he expected, there was nothing but the sound of the wind in his ears and the feel of salt water on his face. He sighed, and then, a moment later, grunted in pain as he felt something in strike him in the back. The momentum of the strike sent Peak off of the side of the bridge, and he fell in the water, reeling in pain.

     The liquid had come up quickly to meet him, but Peak had been able to get a breath down before he crashed into the water. There was a feeling of ice in his shoulder, and he reached around. He struck the shoulder, and felt something there. He pulled it out of his shoulder, a long piece of ice. _Bitch._

     As he turned about in the water, the top froze over, liquid turning solid and icy as he struck into it. Peak groaned in pain as his fist rammed into the ice, only to bounce off. He could see bubbles around where the breath was released, and he considered himself fortunate that he didn’t get any seawater in his mouth. He forced himself to still, stopping the motion that he was in. He bumped against the ice, scrapping against the sharp edges, and drew his sword. _Ice versus steel, let’s see who wins?_ He drove the sword with all of his strength against the ice, only for it to shatter. _Evidently, the answer is ice._ He looked around, hoping to find some place where the ice would end at. There was nowhere that he could see. _Better to try and break through here than to swim elsewhere,_ he decided, and pushed himself closer to the shore. There, he braced himself against a rock and kicked upward, trying to break through the ice. His feet slid off of the ice without effect, and his back scratched against the stones. He could see darkness on the edges of his eyes, and his lungs burned. _No! Not here, not now!_ He could hold his breath for long durations, but that wasn’t while he was injured, not while he was exerting much energy, and not when he was surprised. Peak closed his eyes, ready for death to take him. All that could be seen was the dim light that penetrated through the ice, as well as his eyelids. _Strange,_ Peak thought. _It seems it just got brighter._ He opened his eyes.

     The ice above him was weakening, breaking apart ever so slightly. He forced his back against the rocks one more time, and lashed out with both feet. The ice cracked, and broke. Peak pulled his feet back and pushed forward, ignoring the searing pain in his back, and pulled himself through the ice, dripping wet. _One thing’s for certain,_ he thought as he stepped onto the ice, testing it. The next step was a poor one, which he learned as he nearly crashed through the ice. _I do not like Arendelle._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shall warn you, the next chapter's a doozie. One of the POV characters will die, that is for sure. Until then, have fun. :) The next chapter's the one that this fic had the rating moved up for.


	12. The Monsters Beyond Us

**Chapter Eleven: The Monsters Beyond Us**

     Anna was on a cold bench when she awoke, a small rag of a blanket covering her. The word seemed fuzzy for a moment, until she panicked and tried to rise. Then her side hurt and she had to stop her movement, a hand going to her side as she forced herself up. When she looked down she saw that there was a bandage covering up most of her side, clean white linen covering over her abdomen. She remembered how the bullet had gone through her side. _I suppose they want me alive then,_ she decided. If they had wanted to kill her, then she would have never woken up again. She looked around and saw that she was in one of the isolated cells, located underneath of the palace. _No one will find me here._ All there was in the room was the stone bench, a doorway, and a small chamber pot in one corner. After a moment, she tried to rise. She was able to stagger to her feet with some effort, though every movement brought pain to her side. She let the blanket fall to the ground, having only one objective in her mind at the moment. She reached the large, thick door, and brought her fist down as hard as she could against the wood. She did so multiple times, until she could feel splinters in her hand. When she raised her hand back up to inspect it, she saw that was the case, and moved her other hand to pick them out. That stretched her side, though, and Anna nearly fell from the pain.

     “Look’s like she’s awake,” someone said on the other side of the door. “Go tell the councilors, won’t you. They’ll want to speak with her, he said as much.” _Which one is he, though?_ Anna had to wonder. _Hans,_ she decided. _It has to be Hans. How the hell did he escape? We saw him locked up, and we received a letter from the Southern Isles that he had been executed. They must have lied, and sent him to lead the coup._ The anger that Anna directed at him fueled her, allowing her to stand tall again, and make her way back over to the bench. _No reason to waste my energy,_ she said. Out of curiosity, she slid her hand underneath of the bench. She felt a small seal on the underside, that of a crown. She allowed herself to grin. _At least the monarchy still has some secrets. Still, had better wait to speak with them,_ she thought. _That way I can find out what I can._ She sat down on the bench and waited for the councilors to arrive. They made her wait longer than she had expected, as she flickered her hair around with a hand, trying to think of what she would say to them when they arrived. A small slot opened in the door and a tray of food was passed through some time into her wait. Anna took it and ate it, wanting to recuperate her strength. Her training, and then the subsequent fight had left her hungry and tired, and even a fill as meek as some watered down soup and a chunk of bread were a start. _I gain nothing by being weak,_ she told herself. _Pride makes them wary._ After eating she lied down on the bench, and tried to rest, but to no avail. New thoughts continued to enter into her mind, and the fact that she had no answers made them even worse. _Where’s Kristoff?_ was one of the first questions she asked herself, followed shortly by _Did they find Elsa? Did they kill her?_

 _No,_ she decided. _Elsa would be too powerful for them. Then again, Hans did almost kill her once. And now he has more resources with him. Damn it, Elsa, I told you not to go._ She felt ashamed after the thought, though, and returned her mind to the present. As she had suspected that an hour had passed since the councilors had been called for, then two, Anna began to grow anxious. _Relax,_ she told herself. _They’re trying to frighten you, trying to make you nervous by waiting you out. Don’t give in to that, don’t let them get to you._ Thinking that made her feel better, but it didn’t give her any reasons to rejoice. _Everyone starts somewhere,_ she reminded herself, slightly surprised at her choice of quotation. _Now move forward. First thing, find out whether or not Elsa is alive. If she is, then get into contact with her. If not, then I need to plan on taking the throne myself, and start finding all the allies that I can._

     She was pulled out of her thoughts when the door to her cell was opened. Three people stepped inside of Anna’s cell, and as they did so she pulled towards the other side. One of the three was a guard who stood at the doorway. The second, Hans, moved to lean against a corner. He no longer had the smirk that he had worn earlier that day, and seemed slightly uncomfortable. _Good,_ Anna thought. _The less comfort he’s in, then the more breathing room I have._ The third was Councilor Hummel, who stepped forward to the halfway point of the room. Brown eyes stared at her and seemed to bore holes into her flesh, a sharp contrast to the deathly pale color of the rest of his skin. “Leave us,” Hummel commanded to the guard, and the order was complied. The doorway was closed behind him, and there was silence after his footsteps faded away. The silence continued on for several minutes, before Hummel finally spoke again. “You never applied yourself to the study foreign politics when you were younger. If you had, you may have seen this coming. Hans, the shackles, if you would please.” Hans winced as his name was used, but quickly moved forward, grabbing onto Anna’s hands and placing her in cuffs. On the chain that connected the two shackles, Anna saw that there was another chain placed. Hans walked back to Hummel, whom he gave the end of the chain. Then the young prince shrank back into the corner of the cell, looking at Hummel with a look that Anna would categorize as fear. _So Hummel is the one in charge._

     “This is certainly a fascinating device,” Anna gestured to the cuffs. “Any reason for them besides being of high fashion?”

     Hummel’s face didn’t change after her comment, and he waited a moment before responding. “I would have hoped that shooting you would have alleviated you of your incessant prattling.”

     “Sorry,” Anna replied. “I never stop prattling.” Hummel once again decided not to comment, and Anna hoped that she was hitting a nerve.

     After a moment, he tried to continue. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever been out of Arendelle, have you.”

     “I’ve been dead, does that count?” Anna asked. Hans looked uncomfortably at Hummel, and then lowered his head into his coat. “If so, then yes.”

     “No, Princess,” Hummel growled. “Death does not count. I’ve heard of how you died. That was not true suffering.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Where is your sister?”

     “She didn’t tell you?” Anna asked mockingly. “Must not trust you to much. Of course, I don’t blame her, especially now.”

     “Your fiancé was once as rebellious,” Hans looked up as Hummel spoke, and Anna could see the fear in his eyes. “You would do well to remember your place.”

     “What?” Anna asked. “Royalty. I think I recall it pretty well.”

     “No,” Hummel responded. “A human.” He turned, his piercing gaze staring directly at Anna, and pain shot through her body, starting at her arms and shooting up her body. She screamed, and fell to the ground, muscles twitching uncontrollably. After a moment, the source of the pain stopped, and she was left on the ground, feebly trying to stand. “Why don’t we try this again,” Hummel crouched down to her level. “Where is your sister?”

     Anna groaned, and struggled to rise, finally coming to eye level with the councilor. “Antarctica,” she finally answered. “Didn’t you hear, she said her life’s calling was to live with the penguins.” Hummel sneered, and a moment later she was in pain again. Anna collapsed on the floor and began to convulse, finally being free of the pain several seconds later. Her heart felt faint, and she struggled to move a muscle. She couldn’t feel the stones underneath of her, and as Anna tried to raise a hand, she found that she could no longer feel the shackles that were on her. Then she looked at the shackles, and saw what had happened to the skin that was near them. Burns covered most of her forearms, a bright red tinge coating her skin. She kept herself from crying out in pain, but only just.

     “Isn’t that enough, Anna?” Hummel asked her, reaching out and gently stroking her arms where she was burned. “You can end this, right now. Just tell me where Elsa is, and the pain can end.” _Tell him, just let the pain end,_ part of her was screaming at the rest of her.

     “Why are you doing this?” Anna asked instead. She was surprised at how weak her voice sounded, so desperate and raw.

     “The time of the monarchy has passed,” Hummel replied. “A single leader can’t control a single country. The change was slow at first, but now it speeds toward us. The Magna Carta, the Japanese Deposition, now the Americans. The French will soon join our ranks, and after them, who knows what nations shall join us. Arendelle shall not be the last.”

     “Then why not kill me?” Anna asked.

     “Your sister proves to be a potential obstacle,” Hummel said. “Hans here was a good source of information. We hijacked his ship back to the Southern Isles and took him from there. Another was killed in his place. We learned so much from Hans, and now I have a suitable follower. He told us of Elsa’s powers from another perspective, not to mention that he may prove useful in future. Just as you will prove useful as a hostage, should your sister come back this way. Not that it will matter. With the assassinations that have occurred, we shall soon be at war, and then another monarchy will fall. So, if you wish to be spared, then tell me where your sister is.”

     “I would rather die,” Anna snapped at Hummel, who sighed.

     “Very well,” Hummel said. “Who am I to deny your wish.” Pain ran through Anna again, and then she collapsed on the ground, all feeling gone. For a moment, there was peace, but then she jolted upward, eyes snapping open. Hans was in the corner, looking as if he had just been the one struck, and Hummel straightened his back. “Now you know that death isn’t an escape for you. Remember Anna, there is no way to run from me. With that he turned away from Anna, and stepped towards the door. He turned back to her after a moment, and spoke. “When you come to reason, you will tell me where your sister is.”

     “I never will,” Anna shot back.

     “You’ve died twice, once by me,” Hummel replied. “Hans died four times before he was broken. How long do you think you’ll last. I will be back tomorrow, and I’d better hope that you decided to be cooperative next time.” With that he left the cell. Hans sighed in relief after Hummel left, and turned to leave himself.

     “Hans,” Anna called out, and the prince turned.

     “Yes?”

     “Is what he said true?” After Hans nodded, Anna spoke again. “Then I’m sorry.”

     “Thank you,” Hans said, his voice almost breaking. Then he left as well. Anna waited some time after they left until she moved back to the bench. This time she was crawling over, and when she arrived at the other side of the cell she felt far more tired than she had any right to be. The crown was still there when she felt the stone. _Good, I didn’t just imagine it._ She pressed upwards, and the floor underneath of the bench gave way, swinging inwards.

     Almost two hundred years ago, when the palace had been nearly finished, the king of the time had the kingways installed, a series of secret passageways that trailed throughout the palace. Anna had heard about them in her childhood, and had discovered some of the entrances some years ago. _Never wished I’d have to use them, though,_ Anna thought as she slid under the bench and fell into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are wondering, this is set in an alternate history. A few major changes are as thus:  
>  India and England are trading partners, controlling most of the world's trade.  
>  Japan is not following isolationist policies, and controls most of the western coastline of North America.  
>  People with magic powers exist.  
>  Some biological and technological innovations occurred sooner than they did in the real world.


	13. The Friends We Never Made

**Chapter Twelve: The Friends We Never Made**

_Anna was watching Elsa, who was sitting in the library. The two were rarely together now, but there was always the chance that Anna could find her sister in the library. Arnesen, or Councilor Arnesen, as Elsa had insisted, had called for the two of them to meet him in the library when it was convenient for them. He had been the closest thing to a leader that was here during the past few days, while their parents were at sea. Councilor Steensen was in the countryside for the next few weeks, and Councilor Hummel had gone on his honeymoon. Anna tilted her head as the sound of the doors opening to the library, and the two siblings could see Arnesen coming in. The years on the council had not been kind to his physique, as he had gone bald since he was given the position, as well as gaining some girth. Today he must have forgotten to shave, as he had grey-black stubble brushing along his chin._

_Sitting down in an aged chair, he told them of how their parents had died earlier that week. The wreckage of their ship had just been found on the shores of some distant country, though their bodies were not among it. As Arnesen spoke, the temperature began to drop in the room, and Anna began to shiver. Elsa remained still, barely keeping herself from crying out. Finally, the older girl muttered something. “It was my fault,” Elsa murmured. “It’s my fault their dead.”_

_“No, no,” Arnesen countered, kneeling next to Elsa and hugging her close. “Don’t ever say that it was your fault, Princess. Don’t ever say that.” Outside, snow was falling on the early spring day._

     Footsteps echoed off of the steps above her. She chose not to look up, already knowing who it was that was coming down towards her. She could hear the person’s ragged breaths, soft and cold in the air. “How did you find me?” she finally chose to ask.

     “When I was young, I lived next to a river,” the person answered. “One time, I lost control, and burned someone I cared about. I ran to the river, and jumped in. Everything seemed so hopeless then, but that river was where I felt safe. We all have a place like that, a place where we feel safe. I guessed that this would be yours.”

     “Alright then, how did you get in. You obviously didn’t come through the front doors.”

     “I saw the golem in front and decided that I wouldn’t risk it. Went around the other way, got up onto the roof. I melted a way in.” Elsa nodded numbly, unsure of what to say now. Lord Randolph staggered into the center of the chamber and took a seat on the floor. He looked exhausted, as was she, and his skin was paler than she had seen it before. _His clothes are soaked,_ she realized.

     “Why haven’t you warmed your clothes?”

     “Would take too much energy,” was his reply. “I’m exhausted, so I decided against that. I’m perfectly fine, just a little discomforted.” Elsa nodded in understanding, and silence came between the two of them again. Eventually, he spoke again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to force you. I have a special knack for saying the worst possible thing in nearly every situation. I see you got the tooth back in.”

     “Yeah,” Elsa replied. “I heard that there was a way to get them back in if you were quick enough. I was lucky in that sense.” _What now?_ “Councilor Arnesen died last night in a fire.” _He was the one to tell me that my parents were dead. If they are my parents._ She tried to clear her mind, to focus, but anger confused her, set her off her game.

     “I think I understand what you’re saying. I know that you have no reason to believe me, but I would not have done that. I don’t kill people.” Elsa looked up at Randolph, who was giving her a sympathetic look with his separate eyes. “I’m sorry.”

     “How can you be?” Elsa asked, her voice like a sword that she tried to strike him with. He gave a small wince, and that made Elsa feel better. “You don’t know what it’s like, to have to keep everything bottled up inside, to not be who you are. I had to go every day for years trying to contain something I couldn’t, to try and be something that I’m not. My parents died because of me, because they were looking for someone to help me when a storm hit their ship. And now it may be that they aren’t even my parents.”

     He was silent for some time, and the only noise Elsa could hear was her own ragged breathing. Eventually, he spoke. “I’m a bastard child,” his voice was soft, and Elsa looked up when he spoke, unsure of whether he had actually spoken or not. “My parents met in Hyderabad, and one thing led to another. I’ve lived with both of them, but they haven’t met one another since that night. When I was younger, after I first found out about them, I wished that they would be together. My mother’s husband isn’t a kind man, but my father was much nicer. I used to dream that they would be happier together.” Randolph gave a small, sad smile. “But that was the dream of a child, hoping for a better world than the one he lived in.

     “You’re right, when you say that my powers were never as difficult for me to use. I was luckier than you, I had training with it, I can control better. But you can actually use your powers around other people, they already know. I have to hide what I can do from others. Elsa, I am so jealous of you, because the worst is over for you, because you don’t have to hide anymore.” He snapped his fingers, and a flame appeared. “I may not be the flame, but I want to people able to show people what I can do. But I can’t.” The flame winked out.

      Elsa sighed, and collected her thoughts. “Alright then. I don’t trust you, you should know that right now.” Randolph shrugged in reply. “What is it, exactly, that you want? Tell me everything, and plainly.”

     “The guild wants for you to learn how to control your powers,” Randolph answered. “There are proper ways to train, and to control powers. We want to make sure that you know them, nothing more. Well, and to also introduce you to the guild in the first place, so that you know that we do exist. If you need anything, I can speak to one of the leaders, or you can visit the regional headquarters in Lyon.”

     “Regional?”

     “Yeah,” Randolph answered. “The world headquarters are in Delhi, but we also have regional headquarters in Kyoto, Lyon, Philadelphia, Tenochtitlan, and Jerusalem.”

     “This is bigger than I had thought that it was,” Elsa muttered. “Alright, I’ll accept your offer.” Randoloh nodded, visibly relieved, and stood up. “What do we do first?” she asked as she stood up as well.

     “The first thing is going over some of the basics, I suppose,” Randolph started. He paused for a moment before continuing. “In all honesty, I’m quite terrified of having to actually teach someone, but okay. Magical energy requires a few different things in order to work. Motivation is the first part, and it seems that you’ve already uncovered that. Motivation is the first step to focusing magic in the way you want it to go, otherwise magic will follow the emotions, and that can be unpleasant when left uncontrolled.” _You don’t need to tell me that,_ Elsa thought, and nodded along with what he was saying.

     “The second part is to free your magic from your emotions. This is the step that takes the longest, and is often considered to be the most difficult. After that, you will control magic like any other tool, and emotions won’t have any effect on your powers. We can start that now, if you’d like. I must warn you, though, it won’t be entirely pleasant.”

     “I’m ready to start,” Elsa replied firmly. _This is what I need to do,_ she thought. _After this, everything will be better._

     “Good,” Randolph said. “I want for you to meet some people, so we should probably head out now.” As they began to leave from her castle, he continued on. “It is also important to remember that the ice isn’t a part of you, not in many ways. It’s a gift, it is something you can do, but it doesn’t define you any more than having legs or arms would. It was the hardest part for me, so I’d imagine that it would be the same for you.”

     “No,” Elsa replied. “For years I wished I had no powers, and I’ve already decided that they don’t make me.” She waved her hand at the castle. “If you need proof, here it is.” With that she turned and walked away, not looking back at the collapsing structure. _I am ready._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter for some time, and as such, was written to try and make it a "end to part 1" type of chapter. The reason for the hiatus is that I am nearing the end of writing my own novel, and want to focus on finishing that before returning to Assurances. When I finish with my novel, I will continue with the fic, but until then, this is it. I thank everyone that has been reading, and I can assure you, this is only the beginning.


	14. The Steps on Our Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, now that I've finished my novel, I'm going to continue Assurances. It is about halfway finished now. This is a short chapter, but I felt that I needed to get something out there.

**Chapter Thirteen: The Steps on Our Path**

_Fear. Pain. Ice spread across the ground, caving inwards and piercing at her flesh. No, she reminded herself. This is the past, what I have left behind. This fear is pointless. I am beyond it. I am free._ Elsa felt the cool grace on her back, tickling her neck as she awoke. She ached slightly, and she groaned as she pulled herself up. Her pants and jacket were scuffed and dirty from the night’s travel, and she took a moment to brush herself off before standing up. The morning’s breeze was cool against her skin. She looked around the mountainside, trying to find her companion. Randolph was sitting a few feet away on the slope, lighting a small fire with his powers. “What time is it?” Elsa asked as she stood up and walked over to the fire.

     Randolph pulled his pocket watch and looked at it for a moment before answering. “A little after eight,” he answered. He returned his attention to the fire, giggling slightly as he did so. After Elsa raised an eyebrow, he explained. “I’ve never used my powers unless I absolutely had to, and even then, it would be better that I not. It seems weird to think that I can do it whenever I want, at least while I’m alone. It feels a little nice.” Elsa nodded in agreement.

     “Being who you were meant to be is a sort of freedom, I suppose.” She fingered her sleeve, and pulled it over her thumb. There was a calmness that the wind and the silence seemed to bring upon her. “What’s next?” she finally asked. “I think that I’ve opened the one that you told me to. I realized that people have no real power over me, that I should not fear them.”

     “That’s only part of the concept,” Randolph said. “But that is good. What you truly need to overcome, in order to separate magic and emotions you must both distance yourself from the world and yet be a part of it. Understand that you are in the world, but do not let it affect you.”

 _That makes sense,_ Elsa mentally deadpanned. Very little of what he said made sense. _He must have heard something similar from his teacher and tried to replicate it. There wasn’t much success there._ Randolph continued rambling along until he stopped, staring at her shoulder. “What?”

     “Your hair is, ummm, how do I say this?” Elsa looked down as Randolph spoke.

     “Oh, right. It does this,” Elsa said nonchalantly and brushed it out of her shoulder. “It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes it goes through like that.”

     “Your hair just went, quite literally, through your shoulder,” Randolph spoke, his voice rising ever so slightly as he spoke. “And this is normal?”

     “Yes,” Elsa replied, quite firmly and factually. Randolph nodded, obviously trying to calm himself after learning that. Breathing in and out, he slowly lost the appearance of a child who had just been given an armful of candy.

     “Right, right,” Randolph said. “So, it would seem that you have a secondary power Some people have secondaries, and they tend to vary widely. Yours would appear to be. . . ethereal hair.”

     “Fun,” Elsa said in reply. “Breakfast first, and then get moving.”

     “Yeah,” Randolph said. Their day continued in silence.


	15. The Things We See

**Chapter Fourteen: The Things We See**

     Anna scrambled along the small path, forcing her body through a small gap. The walls were thin here, and the passageway was incredibly thin. She grunted as she moved, feeling the wall scrape against her skin. The pain; however, was not the most immediate problem on her mind. _Food, water,_ she thought, keeping the two in her mind. The idea of nourishment kept her moving, as if it could fill her stomach instead of the real thing. _Wait until the kitchens are empty,_ Anna had to remind herself. There were typically one or two times at which the kitchens would be empty, and Anna could get food. One of the passageways, the one that Anna was headed towards, led to the kitchen. This late in the night, it was likely that there would be no one in the kitchens. The majority of the staff had been evicted from the palace, and Anna scarcely saw anyone moving around. It was possible to see out of the passages, to look out onto the cold, empty hallways that surrounded her. It seemed so possible for her to be able to walk out of the passage, but it would be folly, that much she knew.

     “They’re still alive,” Anna could hear someone saying, and then she recognized the voice as Hummel’s. She shifted where she was hiding, hoping to be able to see through one of the cracks in the wall. After moving in a good position, she could see the traitor moving down the hall, followed by two people. _Elsa?_ she thought when she first saw one of them, but quickly realized that it wasn’t her sister, only someone that looked like her. The other to be from some other nation, perhaps from India, Anna reasoned. The two of them were following Hummel, who continued to talk. “I’ll make sure that you know the location that we last saw them in. You’ll have a contingent of soldiers to go with you, make sure that Queen Elsa and Lord Randolph are dead.”

 _They’re working together?_ Anna thought to herself, and then started to move with the three, keeping pace in the pasageway.

     “If there are citizens?” one of the two, the Indian man, asked Hummel. Anna watched them as they moved, noticing how the man would flick his fingers. Flames sprouted outwards and vanished as he did so, the action almost having a calming effect.

      “I don’t care much of anyone who is stupid enough to stay in the same place as those two,” Hummel answered. “If there is anyone else with them, then I want for those others to be killed as well. If word got out that the Queen was still alive, after the announcement, we could easily be overthrown.” Hummel sighed. “We already have enough problems with mobilizing everyone, seeing as how the Prince can’t go around the kingdom like everyone else.”

     Anna let out a slight grin at the sentence. _Ha! Yay for everyone still hating Hans!_ “Where is the Prince, if I may ask?” the woman asked.

     “Guarding the loyalists,” Hummel answered. “One of the few things we can actually let him do at this point. At least we captured Leondersen and his band.” _Leondersen actually tried to fight for us?_ Anna thought, remembering the childish and angry Councilor. _That’s a surprise._ “We may have more support from the Republic, but until then, we’re on our own.” The three took a turn to the right, allowing for Anna to get ahead of them. She could see that Hummel smill slightly, just a bare tug at his lips. “After six years of planning, everything finally goes correctly. Did you know that originally the entire family was supposed to be on the ship? That bit of misinformation we had been given set us back by quite some time. But still, it is nearly done. We will find the sister here. In the meantime, I need those two to be dead. I trust that you can handle that?”

     “Of course,” the woman replied. “He can kill the Queen; I’ll kill the pyrokineticist.”

     “Good,” Hummel said, humming slightly. “I don’t suppose that anyone has found that snowman yet, have they?” After the woman shook her head, Hummel sighed. “Another piece that we will need to take off of the board. No matter, it will soon be done.”

     Anna had heard enough, and began to slink away from the three. Her path would take her to the kitchens for a quick meal, and then to the cells. _There’s someone who I need to have a talk with,_ she told herself, trying to find some way to motivate herself. _And someone I need to kill._ Her side was still hurting her from where the bullet had gone through, but Anna felt that she was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone for reading. Feedback is a great motivator for me, so any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!


	16. A Haven to Start From

**Chapter Fifteen: A Haven to Start From**

     He didn’t know the name of the village, but it looked charming. The collection of small houses stood against the cerulean lake, a brown juxtaposition with the blue of the water and the green of the meadows around the town. Randolph gazed down at the village below him, his eyes following a small clump of cows that were grazing in front of him. He imagined that it would take, at most, half an hour to get down to the village. In that half an hour, he would need to determine what to do about the golem that was currently sitting behind him. Randolph was sure that the large pile of snow and ice, which Elsa had reffered affectionately to as ‘Marshmallow’, was currently glaring at the back of Randolph’s head. He tried his best to not sigh and rub his forehead. _Why did I volunteer for this task,_ Randolph asked himself, not expecting for to an answer to the question.

     “We can’t bring him into the town,” Randolph finally told Elsa, who was standing next to him. She shifted her gaze from the town that was beneath them to face Randolph, her steely eyes boring into him. “At least, not without going ahead ourselves in order to warn them that a giant snow monstrosity is going to be in the square in a few moments.”

     “I’ve come to the same conclusion,” the Queen said, rubbing her knuckles where they had become raw.

     “Are you alright?” Randolph asked Elsa. Magical training, particularly removing the instinctual urge to spray energy everywhere, required large amounts of physical conditioning. Magic required energy to use, and the fitter one was then the more efficient the energy transfer was. _Still, I might have forced Elsa into too much training right now._

     “Was your training as difficult as this?” she eventually asked.

     “I was able to build up my strength and flexibility over years,” Randolph answered. “I can’t say whether or not you will have the same amount of time. But at the beginning, yeah, it was.”

     “Then I can handle it,” Elsa said, and straightened her posture as she did so. “I can stay here with Marshmallow,” she told him. “You go down there first, let the people know that they can expect a golem in the streets soon. Golem is the correct term, right?”

     “For a semi-intelligent being created by magic and bound to the creator? Yeah, that’s right.” _She’s learning quickly, faster than I ever had. Perhaps she has a greater drive to move forward with such a thing._ Looking back down on the village, Randolph spoke again. “I’ll head on down; you can start heading down with Marhsmallow in about five minutes, I would say. On a related note, would you say that people are generally more comfortable around women? I don’t really notice those things.”

     “Some people might,” Elsa eventually replied. “Why?”

     “It changes how I would approach them,” Randolph answered. _Here we go._ He had been looking forward to showing his secondary ability, but had been unsure of when he should have. “Stand back,” he told Elsa, how thankfully followed the command. _I suppose now is the time._ He focused for a moment on his form, and then gasped in pain as it burst into flames. Though he couldn’t see anything but the flames, and couldn’t hear anything other than the sounds of his flesh burning and melting, he could feel everything ablaze. For half a moment longer, agony consumed him as he felt his hair, clothes, and then his flesh burn away.

 _Right,_ Randolph thought when he knew he was ready, and focused his thoughts back onto his body. Flesh reformed, and eyes formed in the bodies’ sockets. _Amber,_ Randolph commanded the color to be, knowing that the body was following Randolph’s commands. Flames danced around Randolph’s head, eventually forming into long, blonde hair. The fire finally became black, loose clothing, and then Randolph stood up as the flames vanished.

     “Yeah,” Randolph said to Elsa, on whose face there was a look of shock. “I can do this.”

     “But now you’re, you’re—”

     “Yes,” Randolph replied while she brushed a strand of hair behind her shoulder. “I can change my form at will, it’s my own secondary power. Before you ask, I’ll tell you that yes, I am now entirely female in the biological sense.”

     “I’ve seen too many strange things this week,” Randolph could hear Elsa sigh as she walked down towards the town. As she walked, Randolph scratched idly at her throat. The voice box also changed whenever she transformed, and the action always left a stinging sensation in her throat. There were other parts of the body that were also irritated by the sudden change is size, proportion, and in some case, slightly more of a shift than would have otherwise happened, but the throat was always the worst. _Don’t worry about that,_ Randolph told herself. _Just focus on the mission._ “Randolph!” she heard Elsa call out from behind her, and Randolph turned around. “Two questions: was your other form your natural one, and what gender do you consider yourself to be?”

     “My other form is the one I was born as, and I like to think of it as a ‘natural’ form,” Randolph replied. “As for the second one, I don’t really consider myself to be a part of either gender, really. I don’t think, to be honest, that I entirely understand the concept.”

     “I need a fucking drink,” Randolph could hear Elsa say as she turned back towards the town and continued on her way down. The long autumn grass felt soft against  her legs, and Randolph smiled gently at the feeling. _I’ll also have to do something about the nerve endings. Later,_ she decided.

     “Hello,” Randolph declared loudly as she entered into the village. There were a few people walking about. Quite a few were gathered by a large well in the center of the town, and most of them looked over as Randolph spoke. “I would like to let you all know that there is going to be a large golem made of snow and ice entering into the town in a few minutes. I can assure you, it means no harm, so please do not be alarmed by its existence. Your cooperation is appreciated.” _That seems to have gone well._ “The reason for this, is that the Queen will be visiting the town for some time,” Randolph continued. “I don’t suppose any of you happen to remember a little girl named Elsa from a long time ago?”

     “How old would she be now?” a man asked, and Randolph shifted her attention to look at him. He slowly stood the chair he was sitting in, and shifted away from the small building he was next to. Large and physically imposing, he had the same blonde-white hair of Elsa, as well as the electric blue eyes.

     “She’s in her early twenties now,” Randolph guessed. “And I’m almost certain that she came from this town.”

     The man nodded. “I think I know who you’re talking about then.” Randolph noticed his eyes starting to water slightly. _Right, this is the one I’m looking for,_ she thought.

     “She will want to meet with you.”

     “Of course she will,” the man said. “And you don’t need to worry about the masquerade here. There are so few people that we just let them now.”

     “Right, right,” Randolph said. “So you’re a cryokinetic as well?”

     “I am,” the man answered. “So, she made a golem.”

     “Yes,” Randolph answered. “She did. I personally don’t like it, but I’ve been assured that it’s calm. That being said, I’m honestly quite intimidated by it, and if I ever get the chance, I don’t think I would want to spend much time around—” she stopped as she heard a large footstep. “It’s right behind me, isn’t it?”

     “Yes,” Elsa answered from behind Randolph. “It is.”

     Randolph turned around and gestured to Marshmallow with a slight salute, not putting enough effort into the gesture to make it look proper. The golem didn’t notice the difference, or so it seemed.

     “Queen Elsa, this is—” Randolph gestured at the man, who answered the unspoken question.

     “Gregers Solberg,” the man answered as he extended a hand, which Elsa calmly took. She looked at his hair, then down at the ground, and then finally back at his eyes. “I met you before,” he said.

     “I expect that you had,” Elsa said. “I have so many questions. I don’t suppose that there are others.”

     “The Solberg family has always wanted to meet with you,” Gregers answered, giving Elsa an almost haunted look as he answered her.

     “Good,” Elsa said. “I want to meet them to.” _Just like Vinay and myself,_ Randolph thought as Gregers moved towards the house behind him. Elsa followed hesitantly, and Randolph remained with Marshmallow for a moment longer, looking uncomfortably up at the golem, who gave her a confused look.

     “Just stay here,” Randolph said, before following the Queen. As they walked, Randolph was sure that she heard Elsa speak.

     "Finally," she was sure the Queen said.


	17. The Course We Set

**Chapter Sixteen: The Course We Set**

     Captain Peak sighed as he stepped out of his cabin, and looked out on the bay. The _Creon_ was moving on the far edge of the bay, making sure that no one could leave. _As well as the cripple can hold us in,_ Peak thought. _Lord Clint_ and its captain had been told, on no uncertain means, that they were not to leave port. Normally, Peak would be more than willing to follow the requests given. However, having a coup take place and then nearly being killed did not quite constitute as “normal”. _There is no right answer here,_ Peak admitted to himself as he walked along the deck. A slight breeze ruffled through Peak’s hair and stole the warmth from Peak, forcing him to close his coat with a violent tug. Autumn was short in Arendelle, it seemed, and the maritime winds did little to warm the country. _The country is cold, the bitch that led it was cold, everything here is cold. I can’t believe I used to think of Scotland as cold._ He had obtained the rank of captain while fighting in Scotland five years ago, in one of the many attempts to bring the northern land under British control. Much like every other attempt, it had ended in failure on the part of Britain. Unlike most of the other times, Scotland and Britain had finally reached a lasting truce. _It seems that some things will always surprise us,_ Peak mused. _The events of the passed few days have certainly qualified._

     Peak’s first mate was standing at the prow of the ship, looking out at the city only a few meters away from him. The man turned slightly as Peak walked up to him, and gave a cursory nod. Peak wasn’t known to be the strictest of captains, and he accepted the gesture as if he had just been saluted. “You know,” Peak began. “You could just walk of the gangplank and see the city. We aren’t going to be moving anywhere for the moment, despite the near assassination. If we do leave, it’ll be at night. You could enjoy the day here.”

     “I’ve only set foot on land once before, cap’n,” his first mate said to him. “It didn’t feel right to me. The sea is in my blood, and it would feel wrong to abandon it, cap’n.”

     Peak nodded, feeling much the same way. “I suppose that feeling came from your father, didn’t it?”

     “Yes, cap’n, not that I intend on following in his ways. He was a criminal, and no matter how good of a father he was, that doesn’t change the fact.”

     Peak hummed in agreement, as well as approval. “Good that you know that.”

     “Are we going to wait for Randolph?” Mr. Sparrow asked, causing Peak to sigh again. _I need to make a decision on that front,_ he knew.

     “At this rate, no, I should think not,” Peak finally answered. “We need to get out of Arendelle as soon as we possibly can. If they find out what we’ve taken, they’ll likely kill us, and I still don’t trust our chances in any case. We head out at night, Mr. Sparrow. Make sure that everyone is ready for that. I’ll be in my cabin if you need me.” With that, Peak turned back around, heading for the cabin that he had just left.

     The boy that he had found was in new clothing by the time that Peak entered into the room. “I see that you’re doing well,” Peak said as he entered the cabin, causing the boy, perhaps a young man in age, to look over.

     “Yeah, thanks,” he said, wiping a small film of water off of his cheek. “I don’t think I’ll want to spend much time on the water, though.” Peak nodded. He had found the boy floating in the water near the castle as he was moving back towards _Lord Clint._ It had taken a few minutes to force the water out of his lungs and put air back in his chest. Peak hoped that it would be worth it. _You saved a life,_ Peak told himself. _Of course it was worth it._

     “Well, I’m afraid that I can’t exactly have you going back on land. If what you told me is true, then they’ll just kill you once they see you. You’ll be staying with us until we can be sure that it will be safe. We also need to get into communication with either Lord Randolph or your Queen, if what you tell us is true.” The boy had said that the Queen would never have tried to kill Peak. _I find that hard to believe._ “If he’s alive, that is.” Peak groaned at the thought, and sat down in the closest chair he could find. _There is little that I know, and there is little that I can do. Calm yourself, Peak. Leave at night, making sure that the boy isn’t seen._ “You’ll work on the ship,” Peak decided. “Make sure that you aren’t seen. We’ll see that you’re safe, but now this. We’re leaving Arendelle tonight, with no exceptions.”


	18. Whom We See Anew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to start out by apologizing for the inexcusable delay between chapters. The fic is not dead, I just went into a bit of a slump after finishing my novel. In any case, thank you all for reading, leaving kudos, commenting, etc. Knowing that people actually do read this (and hopefully enjoy it) is what gives me the drive to keep writing this ruddy thing, so thanks for sticking along through it all.   
> On an unrelated note, through the first several (1-15ish) were all written without any form of plan. I can safely say that is no longer the case, the entire thing is planned and set in stone.

**Chapter Seventeen: Whom We See Anew**

     The night air was cool against Anna’s skin as she stepped out of the passageway. The prison was near the armory, where she was now. Anna took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the new room. The walls were all but covered with shelves and racks, holding rifles and other weapons. Anna took another careful step, looking to see if there was anyone around her. After a moment, Anna sighed, as there was no one anywhere near her. Taking a moment to let the quiet fill her, Anna sighed and slumped against the wall. It had been a few hours since she had last eaten, but the pain in her stomach had not been dulled despite that. Trying to ignore the feeling in her gut, Anna forced herself up. _Find a weapon,_ Anna told herself. _Find something to use._

     The armory, unfortunately, had no armor that was sized for Anna. She was still able to find a sabre like that one she normally used, which she buckled to her belt after checking it. _Crucible steel,_ she thought as she bent the sword. The steel was flexible and surprisingly strong, able to resist snapping in battle. _This will serve,_ Anna told herself after taking a moment to pull her belt closer by another notch. After that she quickly grabbed two pistols, loaded them with powder and shot, and stuffed them into a bandolier that she found in a crate. After that she found a pair of boots tucked away in a corner. They were slightly larger than would have been best, but it would be better than walking around barefoot, as she had been. She briefly considered picking up a spear, but then discarded the idea the second after it had come into her head. She hadn’t the training necessary to be able to properly use the spear, not to mention that she lacked the physical strength as well. _Bollocks,_ Anna thought, and then continued moving on.

     There were few people around the castle at night, especially after the two had left with a contingent of soldiers. In the darkness, Anna could only see one person standing guard, sitting underneath of a dim lantern and leaning against the wall. Hans was holding a sabre in his hand, looking around the hallway. His eyes looked over Anna, and then moved past, though he made no movements otherwise. Behind him were the cells, though there was only silence coming from there. _The loyalists have to be there,_ Anna told herself, and hesitantly took a step forward, drawing her sabre as she did so. Her footstep echoed off of the stones, and Hans looked back towards where she was.

     “Who is it?” Hans called out, his voice surprisingly faint. He stood up, shifting slightly as he pulled his coat closer to his chest. Anna, still lingering in the shadows, began to move forward, and then stopped herself. _What if this is a trap? No,_ she told herself. _This can’t be a trap._ With this, she silently ran forward, raising her sword to stab at Hans.

     The prince jumped back, startled, as Anna entered into the light and stabbed forward with her sword. She ignored the pain in her side and focused instead on forcing her sword forward. The tip of her blade almost reached Hans, until he parried with his own sword, sending hers just off to the side, narrowly saving himself. Anna twisted away from him and sprang back to clear some space. Hans moved into a fencer’s position and then sprang forward, jabbing once and then twice at her. Anna blocked the blows and moved to the left, out of the way of his sword. He managed to turn swiftly and blocked the next strike she made, and then the next. _Now he expects me to put up a fight,_ Anna realized with despair and shock. _No,_ she told herself. _He won’t win, not now!_ With that she brought her sword back into a two handed grip and swung forward. Hans blocked the blow but staggered back and fell to the ground. Anna breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then he moved forward, knocking her sword hand backwards.

     Anna felt her back slam into the stone wall, and then he was there, a hand crushing on her windpipe. She could feel pain in the back of her head, her swordhand scraping against the wall. Looking in his eyes, Anna could see anger, like that of an animal. Against herself, she started to chuckle. _Once, I would have trusted you. You used to have power over me, but no longer. You hold no power over me._ She laughed weakly at him, the air having difficulty coming out of her choked windpipe. Still, he reeled back, an unpleasant look plastered on his face. Hans fingers weakned their grip on her throat. _Finally._ Anna headbutted him, sending Hans reeling backwards.

     Anna stepped forward, her sword lashing out like an extension of her own arm. She caught Han’s in the side, crimson staining his clothes and flooding outward. Her own side groaned in agony as she extended, but Anna forced herself to ignore it. _Just a little longer,_ she told herself as she blocked a blow, and then another, from the prince. His strength was fading, already sapped from the wound he had taken to the chest some days past. She caught him again in the arm, her sword running up and cutting through cloth and flesh. Then she moved forward and kicked him to the ground.

     Reflexively, instinctively, Hans curled up, pushing himself away from her. “Please don’t,” he begged, his voice near breaking. “Not the lightning, not death, not death,” he moaned, holding himself closer. _What the hell has Hummel done to you, to break you so thoroughly?_ Anna thought, unable to recognize the man in front of her.

     “Hans,” she began, and he looked up at her with fear in his eyes. Anna stepped forward, her sword pointed directly at him. _Just like he had done to Elsa,_ she told herself. _I can end this right here, have him meet justice._ “I hate you,” she said. _Kill him now, and there will be justice._ She looked into his eyes. “Not even you deserve what Hummel has done,” she finally said, dropping the sword down. _This isn’t the same person that tried to kill me and my sister. That man was dangerous. I don’t know what this one is._ Instead of killing him she turned and struck him with her foot. His head hit the ground and then he was gone, unconscious.

     The rows of cells were filled with people, most of whom were still in uniforms. “Princess,” one said as she neared. Anna looked over, and saw that it was one of the Councilors.

     “Is this everyone,” Anna asked him, and he nodded. “I would have thought that more people would have remained loyal to us,” she admitted.

     “It was Hummel that betrayed you,” the councilor pointed out. “With him controlling the military and the guards, it would have been easy for him to get those loyal to him into power.”

     “A pity we never learned about it before this occurred,” Anna agreed, and looked down at the lock. “I don’t suppose you know where the key to this is?” He shook his head, and Anna groaned. “There are always other ways,” she said. “Stand back.” She drew one of the pistols, and after he was clear, fired it at the lock. There was a flash of bright light and a loud clanging noise, but then the lock was gone, replaced by twisted, useless metal.

     The councilor stepped out into the hallway, followed by the others that had been in his cell, and Anna got her first good look at him. “Leonerdson, correct?” she asked, and he nodded his head. “Good. See that everyone is armed and ready to move. We have a rebellion to go on. Or would it be a counter-rebellion?” she asked previously, only to have Leonerdson shrug at her. “Does matter,” she finally decided. “What does matter is that we are going after Hummel.”


	19. Those We Always Knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, an infodump on how I think magic would work in the setting. This is how it will work through the rest of this fic and any future ones. If you want to, you can skip this note. Just don't be surprised if you see something later that seems odd.
> 
> Magic users have what is called a magical core. This allows the user to tap into magic internally and hold a store of magic to be used. The core refills itself naturally over time, though when it is depleted one cannot use magic any more for a while. Different magic users have different sized cores, allowing them to utilize stronger magic. This is generally weighted on a scale, where 1 is the average human and a 50 is omnipotent (god-like in power). Randolph rates about a 7 on this scale, while Elsa is in the high-twenties. Most people rate from a 1-10. Magic can be used a variety of ways:
> 
> Martial Magic: What Elsa has been able to do so far, and what Randolph is teaching her. Each magic user has a specific set of abilities (such as ice/air powers for Elsa, healing/light for Rapunzel, and fire/heat for Randolph). Channeling these abilities is near instantaneous, and comes naturally to magic users. This form of magic, however, is generally very inefficient. Magical energy will flow from the core through the blood, to an extremity, and then into the physical world. Adrenaline, as well as physical movements, make this form of magic easier/more efficient. It also comes with practice. Elsa is probably using an efficiency rating in the 3-6% right now, while Randolph has around a 89% efficiency (this is why his tactic in Chapter 10 was to try and outlast Elsa in the fight, and force her to use as many powerful moves as possible). This is also the only kind of magic Randolph knows, and as such, is the only one he is teaching Elsa. It is comparable to bending from the Avatar series.
> 
> Circle Magic: The magic user creates a chalk/blood/dirt/whatever circle around themselves and fill it with runes, markings, etc. They then channel magic into it, and the circle does a prescribed task. This allows for a magic user to do a variety of different activities, as opposed to simply their form of martial magic. It, however, takes time to create, and also requires an entirely knew system of runes and symbols for each different task.
> 
> Magic Items: The magic user creates runes/symbols on an item and imbues the item with a shard of their magical core. Their own core regenerates, but this leaves the item with its own power source. Anyone who picks up the item can use whatever spell has been crafted into it. Once again, it allows for more variety than martial magic does, and also allows for nonmagical peoples to use it. However, it is also a tedious, expensive, labour-intensive, and precise activity.
> 
> There are also other systems, such as voodoo, meditative arts, paper talismans, alchemy, etc. If these become important later on, I will give explanations to them. Just now we know that they exist, though aren't very common, even among magic users.
> 
> Thanks for the read!

**Chapter Eighteen: Those We Always Knew**

     “I’ll give you both some space,” Randolph said, then he, she, whichever, left from the room. An uncomfortable silence took over as Elsa gazed around the small home. She was seated at a table in the center of the room, looking over at the man who was at the gentle fire in the corner, pouring tea out of a kettle and into two cups. He stood eventually, walking over and sitting down at the table.

     “I’m sure you have many questions.”

     “When, and why?” Elsa asked as she took the cup that Gregers handed her. He held onto his own gingerly as he looked at her, almost as if Elsa would fade away if he were to turn for a single moment. _It wouldn’t be the worst assumption in the world,_ Elsa thought. _I do want to run away right now._ Gregers brought his cup up to his mouth and drank from it for a moment, only to pull away and gently blow on the cup. Elsa thought of doing the same, but decided against it, out of fear of freezing the entire cup solid.

     “You were only a baby,” he explained, as Elsa looked down at her cup of tea. “You were the third child. Now, I suppose that you’re the second, Anders died when he was six. Regardless, you were a child, eight months old at the time. Born in the eight of summer, a beautiful summer, that one was. It was followed, however, by poor harvests and a bitter winter. We were unsure if we could feed everyone, especially because your sister was coming along then.

     “The king and queen had always had difficulty of their own in procuring a child,” Gregers continued. “I suppose that if they had waited a few more years, then you would still be with us. They had a daughter some years afterwards, I know.” _Anna,_ Elsa thought. _It will be good to see her again._ “They came to the countryside, looking for a child that did not have a place to take as their own.”

     “How could you?” Elsa asked, her voice quiet, hiding rage just beneath the surface.

     Gregers looked at her sadly and tiredly, and ran a hand through his thin blonde hair before continuing. “We knew it would be a better life for you,” he answered. “We told them about how you may have magic, we let them know. In the end, I think that was what made them decide to take you in. We’ve always taught our own here how to control themselves, and were assuming that they would be able to teach you.”

     “They had sent out for a tutor,” Elsa said in response. “They died not long after.” _My parents. How long had I mourned for them. Was I just a eugenics endeavor to them? No, they loved you, they had to have loved you. Maybe until Anna came along. No, don’t say that, don’t you ever say that._ “Why was I never told? Why did you never make yourselves known?”

     “We were never allowed to come to speak to you,” Gregers answered. “After the freeze, we were thinking of coming, but you arrived here before we were to leave.”

     Elsa nodded, looking down at her right hand, which was clenched into a fist. A thin layer of frost was growing from her hand, and Elsa forced it back. _Divorce your emotions and your magic,_ she reminded herself. _It cannot be helped now. What has happened is in the past, and now you must decide to do with your future._ The frost receded. “How do you do it?” she asked Gregers. He looked down at the table before answering.

     “Time,” he answered. “Focus, dedication. Motivation.” _Arendelle. Home. Anna._ “It will come to you, just as it came to the rest of us.” Gregers gave her a small smile, a weak but kind one. “I know that you can do this.”

     “Thank you, sir,” Elsa said. He looked down briefly at the table before returning his gaze to her.

     “I never wanted you to feel that you had to call me sir,” he said, his tone a sad one. “I know that I can’t ask for any more from you. I’m so sorry.”

 _Can I forgive him,_ Elsa asked herself. After half a moment of thought, she answered. “There is nothing for you to be sorry for. You did what you judged to be right.” She sighed. “I just wish I had known.” Gregers smiled, and she returned the gesture. For a moment, there was a satisfying quiet that filled the room in its entirety, one that made Elsa feel satisfied.

     That quiet was immediately broken when four people quickly entered the room from a side door: a pair of young twin’s, one of either gender; an older woman; and Randolph, back in his natural form. Gregers stood quickly. “What’s going on? How is this?” he asked, pointing specifically at Randolph as he asked.

     “Same as the woman you met before,” Randolph answered. “Long story, don’t ask. Elsa,” he turned to her, his face grim. “We need to move you, and quickly. There are people here, looking for you. Whoever they are, they can use magic too. They’ve already traced you this far, it’s only a matter of time before they determine the exact location. We move, the magical signal moves.”

     “Who is she?” Elsa could hear the young boy ask as she rose quickly, nearly knocking her chair over.

     “No, you can’t go,” Gregers begged, almost pleaded. “Not after this long.”

     “It won’t be much longer,” Elsa answered. “And this is the only way to save them.” She gestured to the twins as she spoke, and Gregers reluctantly nodded. “Which way?” They both quickly moved, opening the main door out of the house and heading into the village proper. Out of the corner of her eye, Elsa could see a pair of soldiers, in the uniform of Arendelle’s military, moving towards one of the houses. _What? Why would they be looking for me?_

     “Towards the woods,” Randolph said, breaking into a light job as he moved away from the town. Elsa followed, slightly hesitant. _What do I not know about?_ “We can’t let them hurt any civilians, not with magic users.”

     They continued moving for a few minutes, steadily heading away from the village. _There’s no one out here,_ Elsa observed. Then everything clicked. Randolph was ahead of her, not expecting a thing. She twisted her hand, spreading ice underneath of his feet. With a yelp, Randolph fell to the ground and landed hard. “Are they here yet?” he asked, quickly turning.

     “No,” Elsa answered. “And I realized that they won’t be. I was an idiot to trust you!” He stopped in his tracks, like a trapped animal. “Arnesen was killed in a fire, but you fooled me then. So you lure me out to where I can’t get help, you make me emotionally vulnerable.” _Just like Hans did._ “Well, listen! You won’t kill me that easily!”

     “Elsa, wait, I—” Randolph began, but Elsa was already moving, lashing out with her fist. Air and ice collected there, and struck the man squarely in the chest. He flew backwards, and then Elsa was moving, already beyond him. _I was an idiot,_ she told herself. _Take a moment, collect yourself. Then head back to the capital. You’ve wasted enough time._ She continued running for a long time, only stopping when she realized she was on the edge of a lake. She could hear footsteps behind her.

     “Randolph?” she asked.

     “‘Fraid not,” the voice answered, and Elsa turned. Behind her, near the edge of the trees, was a woman who looked almost like her, save for in build. “I heard about you, Elsa Solberg. Woman who froze the north sea. Damn, I’m impressed,” the woman continued as she sauntered over. “I’m from the Arcanists. Mercenary group, comprised of only magic users. Very hush-hush, only take a few jobs.”

     “What, are you offering me a position?” Elsa asked. The woman laughed, making a pretty noise across the lakefront.

     “No, no,” the woman answered. “You are my job. Word from one cryokinetic to another, don’t go for huge blasts of ice. Just doesn’t work.” The woman flexed her wrists, and Elsa could see twin blades of ice appear in her hands.

 _Right,_ Elsa thought, seeing a fight quickly approaching. _Let’s end this quickly._ She brought her hands together, forcing herself to create the same energy as she had some times before. Recently she had started making the ice and snow immediately, so as to not risk hurting others with pure magical energy. _But for you, it will be just lethal enough._ A small ball of bright blue light fluttered into existence in her hand, and Elsa threw it forward with a call of “Okay then, catch!” The ball pulsed violently as it flew towards the woman, and caught her in the gut. She doubled over violently as the light blazed outward, grunting as she took the blow. Then the woman smiled, and looked up. “You’re fucking with me,” Elsa muttered. “So that doesn’t work with other magic users?”

     “Look’s like your teacher hasn’t taught you everything,” the woman replied. “A pity. Learn on the job.” Then the woman was rushing forward, icicles flying at Elsa.

_Well, this could have gone better._


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Those Who We Meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are confused, Elsa had tried to directly freeze her opponents heart at the end of the last chapter, same way as she had with Anna, only intentional and very quickly. Problem is, directly sending magical energy into another person just means that the other person has some more magical energy to burn (think how Thor's lightning affected the Iron Man suit, similar idea).

_Wow, Randolph. You always know just how to fuck everything up,_ he thought as he rushed through the woods, knocking bits of dirt off of himself. Elsa had managed to slip away after she had blasted Randolph to the ground. _Of course, you just had to say something that would manage to fuck everything up._ The sound of something slamming into the ground took Randolph’s attention, and he turned his head back to look. _Oh, joy. Just perfect._

     Elsa’s snow golem was chasing after him, ice spikes growing out of his knees and arms. _This will be good._ Randolph turned around and continued running. “Marshmallow, listen,” he called out behind him. “I’m not your enemy. Just calm down, we can—oh, why am I trying to calm the snowman.” He continued running, ducking past trees as quickly as he could. Behind him, the raging creature was moving closer. _Don’t hurt the golem, don’t hurt the golem, don’t hurt the golem,_ Randolph had to tell himself. The urge to spin around and throw out a blast of fire was all too tempting at this moment, to burn the snowman until it was nothing more than a puddle. Still, it would do nothing that could benefit him in the end. _Besides, you would be killing something. It does appear to be sapient._

     As he was running, Randolph could hear a high-pitched whine. He turned his head to look for where it came from, but found nothing. A moment later, he was sent flying through the air, crashing into a tree, and falling to the ground. Small rocks and bits of twig were poking at his face, and his entire body felt numb. _What the hell just happened?_

     He forced his head to rise, and tried to push up against the ground. There were two figures, both moving out of the distance. To his left, just on the outside of his vision, Randolph could see a purple pattern fading quickly, imprinted on the ground and turning a pale grey. _Some sort of circle magic,_ he realized. _This is a trap._

    His left arm was pinned underneath of his body, and after a moment he was able to pull it out from underneath of himself. As he did, he could feel blood start to flow down the length of his arm, dripping down to the ground. Randolph hissed as his arm smarted, and set it ablaze for half a second, sealing the wounds in heat.

     The two were still coming closer, both about the same height as him. One leveled a rod at Randolph, and then he was thrown back again, sailing through the air for a few moments before landing on the ground. He groaned and forced himself to stand.

     There was a roaring sound from his left, and then Marshmallow was in the area as well, looking around with an expression of both anger and curiosity. The one with the rod waved it carelessly towards the golem, and it froze up, remaining unmoving. _The rod has telekinetic properties,_ Randolph observed.

     “I’ll handle him,” the one with the rod said to the other. “You can take the queen.” The other peeled off as the one with the rod leveled the weapon at Randolph once again. Randolph leapt to the side, dodging the blast of energy that came hurtling at himself, breaking apart the twigs and pine needles that had been under his feet only a moment before.

     “I don’t suppose we can talk,” Randolph began, placing a tree between the two of them as he walked around. With his spare hand he removed his scarf, and wrapped it around his arm to use later. _Hopefully I can immobilize him without having to hurt him._ “I have no quarrel with you!”

     “No,” the other man said. “But that won’t save you.” There was the same high pitched sound, and then the tree was falling toward Randolph. He ducked out of the way, coming into view of his opponent, who was ten meters away at most. Randolph spun in place, clapping his hands together for a moment and creating a small fire. Then, whirling around, he let it grow and forced it towards his foe, throwing his hands out at him. His opponent smirked and raised his bare hand, and the flames died quickly. Still, it was enough time for Randolph.

     While his opponent couldn’t see him due to the flames, Randolph rushed forwards, grabbing onto the staff with his spare hand and tried to wrest it from his grasp. The two clung to it, and Randolph could tell that his foe was about to send out another blast. He twisted the rod, sending the blast flying to another side and striking a tree.

     Randolph grabbed onto his opponent’s shoulder and pulled him in, quickly head butting him twice in succession, before flipping the man over his shoulder. His attacker landed on the ground and rolled away, but now Randolph held the rod in his own hands. With a wave of it towards Marshmallow, the golem fell forward before righting himself. Then Randolph broke the rod over his knee.

     For a moment his attacker’s face paled, then the man punched forward, creating a fireball that was aimed directly at the snowman. Randolph reached out, and with a swirl of his hand and a slight gentle sway forced the fire away, letting it instead land on his own hand. The man stepped back, and Marshmallow stepped forward. Randolph recognized the signs of magical exhaustion, the slight shaking that the man was going through. _He had hoped he could win the battle in the first few moments,_ Randolph realized, and looked down at the rod. _Not a real magical item, just a foci. Much weaker, forces you to use your own energy. But cheaper, so not the worst thing to go for, but the worse thing in this case._

     “Where did you train?” Randolph asked the man. “Pyrokineticists, I know some of them end up training in Hyderabad. Some maybe in Kyoto, if they live there.” He sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter here, does it? Marshmallow, sic him.” The snowman almost seemed to give off a grin before moving towards the man, who began to run. _Okay, the golem knows German. Fun. Wonder if that’s because Elsa knows German, or if it just learned that on its own. Does Elsa even know German? Remember to ask her that. . . oh, right. Crap._

     With that thought he turned and began to run back towards the lake, the way that he had seen the other figure go. The few moments, perhaps a minute, he had been fighting his own foe had given them time to get away, and he couldn’t see them. _Crap, Randolph. Like always, you’ve managed to fuck everything up._ He skidded to a stop, unsure of which way to go. The forest seemed cold and unforgiving. A light fog was coming in from seemingly all angles, and Randolph spun around, trying to see anything that would give a sign as to where the runaway queen now was.

 _Focus, calm yourself. Just like father would tell you to,_ Randolph thought, and slowed his breathing, closing his eyes and forcing himself to remain still. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again. Then he looked again. The fog, which was still a ways out, was only coming from one direction. Looking at it, he realized that it didn’t look much like any fog he had ever seen before. _Not fog,_ he realized. _Debris, maybe. . . that is snow._ He began to run towards it once again. _At least you leave an easy path to follow._

     He entered into the wave of snow quickly, heating his body as he made his first step into the whirling snow. The tug on his energy was noticeable, and Randolph struggled to push onwards as not only snow, but also wind buffeted him. Tree limbs had begun to shake violently, and he had to dodge a large piece of wood that was sent flying after it was broken off of a tree. Still, he moved on, ignoring the wind to the best of his abilities. Then, as quickly as the storm had begun, it ceased. Randolph, who had been leaning forward to combat the wind, fell over onto his face and the wind died down and the snow fell. He landed it a small pile of snow, and forced himself back up.

     They were on the edge of the lake, all three of them. It seemed that until recently Elsa had been airborne, as she landed on a sheet of ice on the lake and stumbled to the side, rising as quickly as she could. The other figure, Randolph could now make her out as a woman, brought her first forward, creating an icicle that was sent straight at the prone queen. Raising his own hand, Randolph created a lash of fire that went on, striking and breaking apart the icicle, which clattered to the ground. The figure turned, and brought a fist upward. Before Randolph could respond, a large sheet of ice slammed into his chest, sending him flying. _Not again._ He landed on the ground, rolled some, and then fell on his back.

     Pain blossomed in his chest, and spread throughout his body. Spots flashed along Randolph’s vision, and it took all of his strength to stay awake. After a few moments, he rolled over, ignoring the ache that was now spreading across all of his body. _How many times have I been tossed around today?_ Randolph asked himself, and couldn’t think enough to find an answer. He forced himself to look up, and sighed in relief.

     In the moments that their foe had been paying attention to Randolph, Elsa had managed to rise. For a moment, it looked like she was holding a small, invisible ball in her hands, then she pushed forwards. Randolph could hear the rush of wind, and then the air struck the woman between them, sending her flying and striking a tree. She fell to the ground, but quickly rose, sending out a swarm of icicles with a swift kick. Randolph curled himself up, avoiding most of the ice. A few blades of it struck at his legs and arms, but the worst of it was avoided.

     “Oh, come back! I wasn’t done with you!” Randolph could faintly hear Elsa cry out and forced himself to look up. The woman was running now, sending a few bolts of ice back at them haphazardly. Most broke on trees or missed widely. On got close to Elsa, only for her to break it the moment it came close. “I guess that it wasn’t you,” Elsa now directed her attention to Randolph. “It looks like your word is worth slightly more than tissue paper.”

     “Lucky me,” Randolph croaked, and forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain that smarted through his leg. “Are you alright?”

     “For a brief moment, I was flying there,” Elsa answered. “She had told me about how they had taken over the capital. That my sister had. . . I lost it then. I bet you saw the storm.” Elsa chuckled sadly. “I suppose I still have a way to go. In any case, I created the storm, and I stated to fly, briefly. Then, she managed to put pain in me, I don’t know how to describe it.”

     Randolph nodded. “Likely a telepath,” he answered. “If someone isn’t thinking particularly straight, then they can create a two way bridge between the two; transmit memories and sensations across the pathway. If she got you really mad then, she could send the sensation pain straight into your mind.”

     “Right,” Elsa said. “Still, we need to head back to the capital. I don’t want to imagine what’s happened if what she said is true.”

     “It might not be true,” Randolph said. “It could just be a wild goose chase.”

     “And how will we know that,” Elsa asked him, turning and beginning to pace. “We don’t exactly have a source of information that we can use. We’re in the blind here, they know more than we do. We have to make the best move, even if it means that we’ll be blind for a while.”

    Randolph heard the sound of large footfalls, and after a moment, Marshmallow came into view from behind several trees. Elsa turned to look at him. “Here’s a source of information, I hope.” Randolph said. Marshmallow coughed for a second, and then the man dropped from out of Marshmallow’s mouth. _Being stuck in the center of a snowman. I do not envy him._ “There,” Randolph said instead. “How about him?”


	21. Important Note

I would like to thank everyone that has read Assurances so far. It has been my pleasure to have written this piece for everyone, and I thank you for reading it. It is because of wonderful people like you that I enjoy writing.

 

That said, looking back, I'm unhappy with how Assurances had gone. The break I took was inexcusable, but now I can't see myself moving forward with this piece, at least not in the same way. The plot had faded and become something unoriginal, and I'm not happy with the direction I was taking myself. As such, I've started the story over again on Fanfiction.net, starting to diverge from roughly chapter three. Some of the characters will be the same, others not. The plot will go in a very different direction, and I hope that everyone will enjoy that version much more. I certainly have much higher hopes for that version of the story. I will not be continuing to put Assurance up on Archive of Our Own, it doesn't seem fair to everyone to delete this version to put up the next. If people want to read this version, by all means, they can. 

 

Thank you all for the journey, and I hope that you will be with me for the rest of it.


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